Hollow to Vampire
by Grimankin
Summary: Bleach x Rosario Vampire crossover. Ulquiorra is dead... but something else than oblivion awaits for him afterwards. He wakes up in a weird place and is given a mission to attend Youkai Academy. Will he find out what a "heart" is during his stay?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

**Disclamer:** I don't own Bleach or Rosario + Vampire. If I did Ulquiorra would still be alive, Hichigo would take over Ichigo partially and Aizen would not turn into a butterfly and instead would go Bankai on everyone's asses. Moving on…

This story is an entry in a "Ulquiorra discovers what a Heart is" challenge by the author S. Knightshade, who's godness(not goodness) impressed me to no end. He's officially the best Fanfiction author out there, in my personal honest opinion. If you want to know the specifics go check out his profile. And without further ado let's get on with the story.

* * *

><p>xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx<p>

"**Hollow to Vampire" – "Chapter 1"**

Ulquiorra Cifer was dead. His last moments were full of newfound emotion and understanding… yet so full of regret. Hollows were creatures born of sadness and regret amongst many other things such as anger, pain, loneliness, emptiness, sacrifice. The list went on and on and most negative emotions and experiences could be listed there. As Ulquiorra's mind drifted away into the darkness he wondered what would happen now? When humans died they went either to Soul Society or to Hueco Mundo, but what of the Arrancar? There was no life after the afterlife, right? He was destined to vanish into eternal darkness of the void – all his existence would turn to naught as his mind would dissolve and his memories vanish.

Perhaps it was fate that he would die at the hands of Kurosaki Ichigo. He and Inoue Orihime showed him what humans really were, what the "heart" really was. More than an organ – it was an emotion. A shame Ulquiorra would never know what it is. Love? Happiness? Sacrifice? The desire to protect? He didn't know and he would never know now.

He let the winds of darkness guide him further into oblivion until his consciousness finally disappeared.

. . .

Then something came, or perhaps it appeared. A sound of sorts, a feeling of something happening. It repeated itself slowly. He wondered how to best express this sound and the only way to do so was… Thump.

Thump – thump – thump.

It repeated again and again, covering his body in waves like the ocean coming onto the beach, waves hitting the shoreline. This sensation was weird and new – something that Ulquiorra never experienced before. '_But wait… I can think and feel… and this means that I must exist.'_ was the logical thought that came into his mind later. Without much other thought he let the sensation overcome him again and again, spreading warmth and giving him something else, something more. It felt reassuring and strong, yet it made the man feel insecure and a bit afraid. '_What is this place? Where am I?_' he thought, trying to move his body, if it was even there. His attempts yielded no results whatsoever. It felt like only his mind existed in this plane of existence and nothing but thought was left of him. Perhaps it was the last stage of "life" – a state where all things physical were abandoned and cast off allowing the pure thought and mind to develop in full.

In time, however, the waves of warmth nearly ceased, and he could feel them only when he concentrated enough on himself. The sensation was replaced with a monotonous sound of rumbling. Like rocks were falling down a mountain, closer and closer, causing the rumbling sound to intensify. After some time Ulquiorra understood that the sound stopped getting louder and that he started feeling his body. '_My… body. I can feel my limbs and my torso. My neck hurts and my spine does as well. I've never felt like this before._'  
>His train on thought was interrupted by a voice.<p>

"**Hey kid are you awake yet?**" the voice asked. Ulquiorra wondered why the voice sounded so low and the tone was nearly inhuman. Although his eyelids felt heavy as lead he tried to open his eyes, only to find himself in nearly total darkness. He could hear the rumbling and now he knew that there was also a feeling of continuous vibration throughout the room where he was. The arrancar tried to look around and moved his head left and right, slowly so not to strain his neck further.

To his great surprise he found himself in a sitting position. He was dressed in a set of clothes which consisted out of a light-green short coat, which reached down just below his waist, a white shirt underneath it and a red tie on his neck. On his legs was a pair of black pants and black shoes. Ulquiorra had enough knowledge of the human world to recognize the particular style of the uniform which could best be called a "school uniform". He slowly raised an eyebrow which showed exactly how big of a surprise it was for him. The arrancar was never one to show any emotion on his face unless something completely out of the ordinary happened… and that was very rare for him. As his head moved right he found his own reflection looking at him dead in the eyes. Now he raised both of his eyebrows because of the fact that his Hollow Mask Fragment was not present on his head. He still hand the same hairstyle and his eyes were unchanged. Even the green tear lines were still present, yet his bone mask was gone… as if it was never there in the first place. And there was one other thing – he looked about 15 years old, which was plain weird.

"**Kid, hey kid!**" the voice once again demanded to be recognized and drew Ulquiorra's attention to the opposite side of the room. He finally recognized what this room was. A bus – a sort of a vehicle with wheels that humans used to travel faster than on foot. Due to its size the bus was able to transport many people at once, and usually the buses had different routes which the humans used to gain knowledge to where they would go.  
>The arrancar also recognized that it was the bus driver who had addressed him, and the man was half turned towards his only passenger, who was sitting four seats behind him. The driver himself looked of unknown age due to the shadow on his face, caused by the hat he wore. His eyes however seemed to glow in the dark a bit. Ulquiorra cleared his throat and spoke after noticing that it was pitch-black outside the bus, which was definitely moving, and thus going somewhere.<p>

"Who are you?"

"**Heh, you just awoke and I bet you have a lot more questions than this one."** the man smirked and continued. **"As for this specific question – I am a bus driver, nothing more and nothing less."**

Ulquiorra leaned back on his seat and flexed his hands and legs, making cracking noises when shifting his joints and bones. As he did he felt the stiffness and the pain in his body go away. It felt as if he had been sitting here in this bus for many years.

"**Well I guess I'll need to fill you in on what happened. I know you can take a shock so let's begin. You died. Plain and simple – you got killed."** The man smirked again and watched Ulquiorra frown ever so slightly. After a short pause the grim-looking youth gestured for the driver to continue. **"After your death you haven't fallen into oblivion, but someone plucked you out and threw you down here. To be frank – you're in another world. A separate dimension where Shinigami and Hollows don't exist. You following me so far?"** the man asked putting a cigar in his mouth, which he pulled out of the pocket of his jacket.

Ulquiorra slowly nodded. He was dead and not only that, but he was sent to another world by someone or something. The only question was…

"Why?"

"**Sorry kid, but I don't know. All I know is that you have a purpose here, but I can't tell you more."** The driver shrugged **"What I'm here for is to drive you to Youkai Academy and give you some information. Here's what you need to know…"**

And the man started to explain things. Ulquiorra simple nodded and sometimes asked questions to deepen his understanding on things. He learned that humans and monsters have lived together since the beginning of times and that the monsters were as varied as humans, if not more. He learned about Alucard and the evil that he brought, about the Three Dark Lords and their deeds, about the school and it's purpose. He also was instructed on most types of monsters and what they could do. It felt like he had spent days, if not weeks riding the bus, yet he never felt tired or sleepy, nor he wanted to eat or drink. As he asked why it was so the driver smirked.

"**We're in a different sub-dimension, where the sense of time is very stretched out. Even if we took a ride that would last years only minutes could pass in the human world."** Ulquiorra started to think that there was more, much more to the driver than he let on. He decided to keep that knowledge to himself though. **"As for yourself – you're no longer a Hollow, but a Youkai like all the others. Your class and type are unknown, but I'd say you're S-class judging by your youki and all that. By the way – see that ring on your middle finger?"** Ulquiorra looked down on the ring that he wore on the middle finger of his left hand. He noticed it before – it was a simple silver ring with a small square-shaped emerald on the "top" of it, which matched with the color of his eyes. **"That thing there is your sword. It works like a seal and if you want to you can remove it and release your full power. Just be careful, since your released state can do a lot of damage, if what I've seen from your battle with an orange-haired kid is any indication. The seal can shift between two forms – a form of a sword and that ring you see on your finger there."**

Ulquiorra nodded to show he understood. He concentrated on the ring and it shifted into a sword in his hand, just as its master wished. After a few minutes of studying the familiar sword without its sheath Ulquiorra transformed it back into the ring.

"What now? Am I to attend this… Yokai Academy, driver-san?" Ulquiorra asked in his usual monotonous voice, letting nothing show on his face as always.

"**That's the idea. Now that you know everything you need to, we'll be picking up a second passenger. And remember – nobody's gotta know we had this talk but the school's Headmaster."** The driver turned his head again, looking at his single passenger and smirked in his usual creepy way, as much as Ulquiorra could tell. He nodded in response, preferring simple gestures over speech.

As the bus finally emerged from the darkness Ulquiorra saw a town in the distance, not too far away. He wondered if the second passenger was living in that town and as to his identity, but decided not to dwell on this and instead started to concentrate on himself. He was no longer a Hollow, nor an Arrancar, but instead a living being even if a monster. He slowly raised his hand and put it to his chest to hear those very sounds he recognized from the time he was in the darkness. Thump-thump-thump. The sounds of his heart beating, slowly but surely. He wondered if that meant that he was capable of expressing those same emotions humans did or had… but he felt no different from his usual self, aside from the fact that he felt much warmer since now he had body heat. The blood coursing through his veins now was warm instead of being cold like it used to when he was a Hollow. Perhaps he was still like was used to be, even with the heart he had – it was nothing more than a simple organ which pumped the blood through his organism and that was it.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of opening doors and the fact that the bus stopped. When he opened his eyes and looked out the window he could see that they stopped at a bus stop, surrounded by lush green trees, which covered part of a building behind it. He saw human children and adults walking around about their business. What would they think if they knew that across the glass window in the bus beside them sat a monster with power enough to level their little city to the ground in five minutes? '_Humans and me can never coexist.'_ he felt a small pick in his chest at the thought, but he dismissed the feeling he had experienced for the first time in his entire existence, which lasted for hundreds of years.  
>Instead of dwelling on that thought or attempting to recognize a feeling of sadness he looked at the bus' entrance to see a young boy walk in. He was by all standards – ordinary. Brown short hair, eyes of matching color, ordinary height – neither short nor tall, and the same school uniform on his body. The boy paid little attention to the bus driver and Ulquiorra noticed the man grin wider as he smoked his cigar. After the boy entered and sat down in the seat in front of Ulquiorra, placing his bag near his legs, the door closed and the bus started its way towards Youkai Academy. Ulquiorra also had a bag, which was lying on the seat behind him – those were the basic things he would need in his life and during his stay at the academy. They were now his belongings which were given to him by either the bus driver or whoever sent him into this world.<p>

Ulquiorra glanced over the bag the boy had and saw a small nametag – Aono Tsukune. So that was the boy's name. The raven-haired boy, seeing as he looked 15 or 16 years old, raised his hand to his throat and undid his tie, slipping it off and placing it in a pocket of his coat. Then he proceeded to unbutton his shirt, and when he was done he had the upper portion of his chest and his neck, which were almost as pale as snow, visible. He left the shirt that way and sighed lightly, looking at the place where his hollow hole used to be. He raised his eyes just in time to see the bus going into a tunnel. He also heard the boy speak his thoughts out loud.

"Totally mediocre. But… I never thought I'd end up flunking the High School entrance exam." The boy was looking out the window as they neared the tunnel and went into it.  
>Then the bus driver finally spoke, when the darkness enveloped them once again.<p>

"… **you are… the student enrolling at Youkai Academy?"** Ulquiorra could see the boy shrink in his seat a bit from hearing the driver's voice. "Ah, yeah." The boy responded. The driver started chuckling as he spoke again. **"In that case you better prepare yourself – when we come out of this loooong tunnel we'll end up right in front of the school."** The creepy man made a small pause and Ulquiorra wondered if this man wanted to scare the crap out of this boy, seeing the dramatic effects he used. The driver turned his head to his side continuing. **"Youkai Academy is a scaaaary place!"**

Ulquiorra watched with slight amusement, which he would not show, as the boy nearly hit the roof of the bus when he jumped up from fright. It was actually a bit funny to watch and Ulquiorra had to admit that there was some fun in scaring other people, especially those who were susceptible to fright. Not that he would ever do it – no, he was far above such lowly ideas and acts.  
>And with that train of thought the black-haired boy watched as they emerged from the tunnel. The sight before him was strange, or rather – it would be if he had not seen the world of Hueco Mundo and the Forest of Menos, which were equally weird for a normal person.<p>

"**We've arrived boys, hehe, and be careful now."** The driver gave his last advice as the two exited the bus. Tsukune stopped near the scarecrows that said 'Youkai Private Academy' and dropped his bags, only now acknowledging the presence of another boy who stopped nearby, holding his bag in his hand over his shoulder and studying the scene impassively. Tsukune was about to take a closer look at his comrade but then as if on cue a lighting strike flashed through the sky, just behind the academy building which could be seen in the distance. Tsukune jumped up a bit, startled and shouted.

"Wait a minute, what is this place?" the poor boy started looking around frantically, to which Ulquiorra simply raised an eyebrow. "N-no way… this place is so creepy! It's like an another world after we entered the tunnel!"

"It does seem rather unusual, I must say." Ulquiorra nodded slightly, while thinking '_You have no idea how right you are. Weird though… his youki… it feels like he is a human. I must be imagining things though, as no human could get in the academy, seeing as punishment for such a thing is death.'_

Tsukune turned around to look at his companion. The boy was a bit taller than Tsukune, he had pale-white skin which made the brown-haired boy think he was an albino, but then he saw his eyes which were emerald-green, with pupils that looked a bit cat-like, which was weird. The boy was not only taller, but also thinner than Tsukune and looked somewhat fragile maybe. He had a black upper lip and a impassive look about him, his nails were black. _'Is this guy a goth or something? He's as weird as the place we're at, he even fits the atmosphere! Creepy!'_ said the voice in Tsukune's head, which were his own thoughts of course. Last things about his companion was that he had raven-black hair, which looked a bit messy and he had two green lines on his face, going down from his eyes and to the chin, resembling tears. He was dressed in the same uniform as Tsukune, with the exception of his tie missing and the top three buttons of his shirt undone, showing his pale neck and the middle of his upper chest area.

"Umm, yeah. Hey – my name is Tsukune Aono… and you are?" Tsukune may have thought this guy was weird, but it was rude to ignore him and appearances weren't everything – the boy knew that. He had to give this guy a chance. In the meantime Ulquiorra studied Tsukune as well and replied to his question, out of simple need to be polite. "My name is Ulquiorra Cifer." He told the other boy in his monotonous tone of voice.

"Umm… okay. Hello then Cifer-kun. Is it okay if I call you that?" he asked, unsure if he could even pronounce his first name. In response the black-haired boy only nodded and proceeded to look around, as if he had no interest in continuing the conversation. Tsukune too looked around and continued. "Freaky, seriously freeeeky. This makes me wanna go home." He turned his attention towards the school building in the distance, but before he had a chance to say anything else both boys heard distressed yell and turned around to see a girl on a bike heading their way with insane speed.

"COMING THROUGH!"

And with that Tsukune could only yell as the bike hit him and both kids and the girls bike went flying towards a nearby tree. Ulquiorra couldn't see a thing due to the smoke obstructing his view, but as it cleared away he saw Tsukune coming to, pushing himself off the ground… or rather off the girl's inner thigh, just below her short skirt. If Uqluiorra was a lesser man he'd probably have a nosebleed, instead his eyes widened slightly at the sight he observed.  
>The girl muttered something about anemia and then she raised her head, showing her face. Ulquiorra had to admit – she looked rather stunning for a girl her age, and she was definitely much prettier than any woman he had seen before, even though her chest was not as big as that woman's – Orihime's. Ulquiorra hurriedly banished the thought of comparing their breast sizes and shook his head from side to side. Then Tsukune got a nosebleed… quite predictable, really. Ulquiorra could only sigh lightly and as he made a few steps towards the pair to help them up, for some unknown reason, the girl suddenly bit Tsukune's neck. Ulquiorra once again raised his eyebrow, wondering if he had become easier to surprise, and finally stopped near them as the ordinary boy started screaming in different tones of "Gyaaah!" and "My blood's been sucked out of nowhere!".<p>

"I'm sorry, I'm Moka Akashiya. Although I look like this I am a **vampire!**" the girl exclaimed and Ulquiorra only nodded since he had figured as much after hearing all that from the bus driver. He had a lot of information in his head about monster now and could probably recognize quite a few of them if they acted like the species they are.

After a few minutes when everybody settled down and Ulquiorra made a mental note that Tsukune's blood was delicious, as it seemed, and Tsukune saying that he was okay with vampires and being her friend, Moka finally turned to the other boy as they walked towards the Academy.

"I'm sorry – I was so distracted with Tsukune's blood that I forgot about you. Oh! I'm sorry – I didn't mean that! I mean… what's you name?" she tried to quickly change the topic to cover up her mistake. Ulquiorra simple nodded and spoke. "Ulquiorra Cifer."

The girl smiled happily. "Hello Ulquiorra-kun! Will you be my friend too?" the girl asked him with an innocent smile.

Ulquiorra was once again surprised, yet this time he hid his surprise, so not a muscle on his body twitched. Firstly he was greatly surprised that the girl was able to pronounce his name without mistake at all after hearing it only once and… there was the fact that she wanted him to be her friend. 'F_riend… me being a friend? I never had anyone who I could call a friend and no one has ever wanted to be my friend, except Neliel, the previous Tercera Espada… I wonder what I should say. I think I shall play along with her wishes.'_  
>Instead of saying anything Ulquiorra nodded while the girl and Tsukune stared at him. Both were interested as to what would be his answer it seemed, and both seemed to be satisfied when he nodded. He simply could not say that he would be her friend too. It was… not like him.<p>

"I have two new friends already!" the girl smiled and jumped up a bit from joy, much to Ulquiorra's dismay and Tsukune's happiness. Ulquiorra could practically hear him say that she's cute with a face like that; however the girl seemed oblivious to the effect she caused on the other boy. Ulquiorra looked away, exhaling heavily though his nose. He was a bit confused by the girl's behavior, but he did not want them to know about it. The thought of calling them 'trash' or anything of the sort did not even cross his mind for a second, as well as trying to tell them that such emotions were stupid ad needless. He had changed… if only a little, however now was not the time for him to realize this.  
>He turned back towards the two when he heard Moka speak again, his emerald eyes focused on her profile.<p>

"I'm very pleased to meet you two! When the entrance ceremony is over please talk to me some more, ok?" she made a cute expression, looking at Tsukune first and then at Ulquiorra. The black haired boy wondered if she really meant that… the only thing he had said was his name, and he only nodded when she asked if he would be her friend. He did that only because he did not want to upset her. He wondered why?

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

The two finally arrived to class, which was supposed to be their homeroom. Ulquiorra did not exchange many words with Tsukune, and only had a minor conversation with the latter about "that vampire thing". Now the emerald eyed student knew for sure that his senses were right – Tsukune Aono was indeed a human child – a simple teenager who had no idea what he walked into. The revelation would shock the poor guy, but it was not Ulquiorra's place to tell him that, and he decided to wait a bit until perhaps someone else would mention the little fact. He could just tell someone from the faculty that Tsukune was a human, but he did not want to. He didn't know why, but his logical mind had an explanation for that. _'It is no coincidence that a human managed to get on the bus. The driver knew much about me and my world and he had to know about Tsukune being a human. That leaves a question – why was he allowed to get on and get in the school. And the things the driver said… he was giving him some advice. I should stay around the boy and find out. Perhaps the reason I am here has something to do with him.'_ and with that thought the bell rang, cutting Ulquiorra's thoughts and guiding him back to the real world.  
>The arrancar side-glanced to his right, observing the human boy out of the corner of his eye. He was also looking at the woman that walked in, she had a weird hairdo that looked like a cat-ears. <em>'Wonderful.'<em> thought Ulquiorra. _'The sooner Tsukune realizes this is a school for monsters – the better.'_  
>In the meantime the teacher showed the class a wide, cheerful smile that nearly blinded Ulquiorra<p>

"Hello everyone, and welcome to Youkai Academy! I am your homeroom teacher Shizuka Nekonome. I think you all already know this but… this is a school built for the sake of **monsters** to attend!" the teach flashed her cheerful smile again.

Ulquiorra shifted his gaze towards Tsukune while Nekonome-san explained the ropes about rules in the Youkai Academy. The facts about humans and monsters, being in the human form for all times and other stuff about blending in. All the while the teacher talked the raven-haired arrancar observed Tsukune sweat bullets and trash around on his seat, while wondering how nobody else seemed to notice that. _'Finally he understands what kind of trouble he's in. I wonder what he will do. Good thing that Nekonome-sensei did not say anything about the death penalty.'_ And then Ulquiorra heard someone interrupt their sensei. It was a guy who sat in front of Ulquiorra – he looked rather troublesome, like a school punk or delinquent and his words made Ulquiorra a bit satisfied that his initial judgment was not wrong. He prided himself on being very-very observant.

"Hey teacher, wouldn't it be better for us to eat those humans? And in the case of beautiful girls, better to molest them?" the boy asked, making the usual 'delinquent-would be-badass' face, which Ulquiorra could not see, but guessed was present on his face, due to the tone of voice the guy used.  
>Out of some reason Ulquiorra felt the need to speak, which he could not contain, much to his own wonder and partial amusementdistress.

"This school is about coexisting with humans – not eating them and molesting females. Only worthless trash like you think that way." was the black-haired student's response. He felt like saying what he thought on the matter, since this guy reminded him so much of Nnoitra Jiruga, which he mostly ignored, yet now felt the need to respond… it was as if he said that to Nnoitra himself. He felt… weird after saying that.  
>In response the punk turned around, placing one of his hands on the back of his chair.<p>

"What'chu say?" was the only response he could muster. The boy's face expressed tons of thing however, most of which was anger. Ulquiorra was unphased, however, much to Saizou's surprise. Ulquiorra replied. "I said that only trash would think that way about women."

The outcome of the staredown and verbal insults that was about to break out was interrupted by Nekonome-sensei who seemed to pay no attention to the both of them and carried on with her lectures and class. And then she mentioned humans and the death penalty. Ulquiorra glanced at Tsukune to see how distressed he was. Alas the arrancar could not imagine how the boy must have felt, aside the reason that he had no fear of anything.  
>Ulquiorra could also hear whispers from behind him, it sounded like girl voices and they were saying something along the lines of.<p>

"Who's that pale boy?"  
>"He's so hot!"<br>"What are those tear lines?"  
>"I wanna ask him out! He stood up to Saizou."<p>

Ulquiorra could only raise his brow as he listened. These things were really new to him and he was wondering if that meant he was received positively due to his small talk with the guy sitting in front of him? Just then, when Tsukune seemed to be at the peak of stress, a voice called out and the door to the classroom opened.

"Excuse me! Sorry I'm late, but I got lost in the school after the entrance ceremony…" the voice seemed familiar and Ulquiorra knew that there were only a few people who he could recognize by voice in this place, which meant it was someone he met, and seeing as the voice was tender and female that meant only one thing – it was Moka Akashiya. Ulquiorra turned his head to see the girl walk in, after their teacher said she could take a seat. The effect she had on the class' boys was peculiar and the raven-haired buy wondered if she was really that beautiful. Sure she was cute and all, but Ulquiorra would never cause such a riot. So he silently observed the commotion.  
>And then Moka lunged herself on Tsukune when she recognized him. Ulquiorra never felt such intensity of killing intent than the one that filled the room when she did that. He could guess that it was jealousy or something like that. He would noticed Saizou's expression if not for the fact that Moka noticed Ulquiorra as well and smiled at him, holding her bag in both hands, as she let go of Tsukune.<p>

"Hello Ulquiorra-kun." The boy wondered why she demonstrated such different reactions between them. Not that Ulquiorra did not like it that way – he would not want the girl to hug him or throw herself at him too. He would only feel uncomfortable.  
><em>'Hmmmm.'<em>

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Ulquiorra found himself dragged along the halls of the Academy. Moka Akashiya was holding him by the arm, as well as Tsukune, who was simply in a daze. Ulquiorra could see the swirls in his eyes. Weird. He himself was surprised when the vampire girl grabbed his arm out of nowhere and dragged him along with Tsukune to explore the school. He did not resist much, but noticed that she was pretty strong physically if she could drag him with such ease… perhaps a vampire was truly as strong as they said. Confusing was the fact that he felt very little youki from her. He could not make up his mind about whether she was strong or weak.  
>After a while she had let go of him and was holding only Tsukune's arm, noticing that Ulquiorra had no trouble keeping up with her pace. Right now the black-haired boy was walking beside them, his hands in the pockets of his black pants, a completely neutral expression on his face. His steps were wider than Moka's and so he had no trouble keeping up while he walked fast. He wondered why he even kept walking along with them – they were nobodies to him… just some random people he had met here, so why – why was he following them still? He could not say for sure.<p>

Each time Moka said something about the school was cool and awesome and looked at Ulquiorra he simply nodded, confirming that he liked the Academy as well. For one – he had no wish to disappoint the girl, and two – he had no complaints about the academy as well. The halls were spacious and well-built. Classes and different other places – like the cafeteria were organized in a way that they could easily be accessed from any part of the school. Also while they were walking he could see and hear others complimenting Moka and calling her "hot" which to Ulquiorra's knowledge meant that she was very beautiful and desired by males. A funny thing was that as soon as the other boys noticed Tsukune they wanted nothing more than to kill him and take the girl for themselves, or were simply jealous. He also heard a few girl remark that he was "hot" as well, which he mostly dismissed… yet he could not help but feel a bit happy at that. Naturally he did not show it, nor did he give it much thought. Moka seemed to be oblivious of the killer intent sent Tsukune's way, while the boy himself could clearly feel and see it.  
>This made Ulquiorra wonder if the girl was what they called an "airhead".<p>

Their merry expedition was abruptly interrupted as their way was blocked by the punk from before. Ulquiorra heard him mutter something and then speak clearly while raising his hand.

"You are called Moka Akashiya, are you not?" the buy winked. "I am your classmate Saizou Komiya! Hey there!" after those words the scene went silent and Ulquiorra sensed that people were afraid of this guy. His youki was mediocre at best though, and even while sealed, Ulquiorra would have no problem in beating this guy, whoever he was. However he speculated that perhaps while in human form the youkai gave off smaller amounts of energy, thus masking not only their appearance, but their power as well. If that was the case then Ulquiorra had no way to be certain, even with his superb Pesquisa. His thoughts were put behind as he watched Saizou grab Tsukune by the collar and lift him into the air. "By the way, why is a beautiful lady like yourself associating with a guy like this?"

Ulquiorra decided to step in and grabbed the man's hand. Their eyes met and Ulquiorra spoke, maintaining his usual monotonous tone, while lowering his brows a bit to add a sense of threat. "I suggest you let the boy go." was all he said. Saizou took a few seconds and released his grip, making Tsukune fall to the floor straight on his butt. Ulquiorra paid no attention to the ramblings of others about how bad this Saizou guy was and released his grip on the man's hand.

"So you're Ulkviora Cifer are ya? That's a funny name you got there, dude." Saizou taunted, licking his lips and then he turned towards Moka, much to Ulquiorra's irritation. "As I was saying… wouldn't a guy like me be far more superior to the sort of scummy guy? Why don't we go off somewhere just the two of us can have some fun?" Saizou leaned over Moka's small frame. "Well? Why don't we go out for a bit?"

Before Ulquiorra – our new hero of and protector of all things cute and weak – could do something Moka suddenly grabber their hands and quickly dragged both of them away, while saying. "I'm sorry! I'm having fun with Tsukune and Ulquiorra now!" and faster than one could clap their hands they were gone, leaving Saizou alone… but he was not about to give up. Oh no.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

The tree of them stopped to take a breather on one of the stairways. Ulquiorra moved away, while Moka and Tsukune started talking… it was not his place to stay and listen to such things, and he was not tired at all. Compared to the things he could do a small fast-paced run they just had was nothing. Just as he was about to walk away he stopped, around the corner, listening to Moka say that Tsukune was not mediocre or anything. When he heard her say that his blood was tasty and they were on blood-sucking terms he felt the tips of his lips go up, ever so slightly – just a little twitch. The twitch, however, caused his eyes to widen and he brought up his hands to his lips, feeling the corners with his fingers. They were already facing down, like always, but he felt the need to push them down nonetheless, and after he did he heard Moka raise her voice.

"Where's Ulquiorra-kun?" she exclaimed. "I don't know… he must have gone away after we stopped to take a breath. He was here a second ago. Weird guy… he's so silent it's really creepy." Tsukune answered and voiced his opinion on Ulquiorra, which made the man look down on the floor. _'Am I really that different? I guess I can never coexist with humans and other monsters… I am empty and soulless, unlike the rest of them. I should not have come here in the first place.'_ the thought he had were nothing like he ever had. He felt… sad? Perhaps… he quickly left, moving in a way that his footsteps made no sound.

"How can you say that Tsukune? He's our friend! And no matter what he's like he saved you from that Saizou boy when he grabbed you!" was Moka's answer. "I-I guess so. I'm sorry I said that about him – I wasn't thinking straight."

But Ulquiorra could no longer hear that.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Ulquiorra was slowly walking towards the forest outside the academy, his hands in his pockets and his head hung low. He was confused – he had never felt like this. So weird, so alien it was to him that he could not understand what was happening. Even his genius observation skills could not help him understand the newly-awakened emotions he now felt and experienced… yes he could easily read anyone else, but he could not do so to himself right now. What he actually felt was sadness and hurt, even though he could not understand it. He had never had a need for companionship and understanding before in the hundreds of years of his existence – emptiness and hence solitude were the basic attributes of his previous "life". Unable to cope and recognize these emotions he desperately tried to get away, even though he declined the idea that Tsukune's words had hurt him so much, even if it was a single sentence of a new companion who knew nothing about him. On the other hand – there was not much to Ulquiorra after all.

All the while Moka and Tsukune were further exploring the academy and searching for him, while having fun, the raven-haired monster had gone deeper and deeper into the woods. He was alone, or so he thought. Finally he stopped, raising his emerald eyes and surveying his surroundings. His excellent pesquisa had found a few presences not too far away, but they were still and not moving around much, most likely a group of people hanging out in the woods. Ulquiorra forced himself off the ground with one light jump and landed on one of the higher branches of a big tree, and once on it he sat down, placing his back to the trunk of the tree, crossing his legs and outstretching them on the branch itself. He closed his eyes and let his mind clear of any thought, entering a state of meditation he sometimes used.  
>His estimations were that roughly twenty minutes had passed, until he felt someone nearby. Ulquiorra opened his eyes in an instant, shifting his gaze down onto the ground, only to find a group of six people standing below the tree, looking up at him. They were the very same group that he felt before, away in the distance. Judging by their appearances they were somewhat like that Saizou guy before and the look in their eyes told the arrancar to expect nothing pleasant from this encounter. And just as on cue their apparent leader spoke.<p>

"Oi, you there – snow-skin. I heard ya called Saizou-san trash during class. Bad move, man, bad move." The leader cracked his knuckles and crossed his hands.

Ulquiorra thought about it for a second, keeping his emotionless eyes on the man. _'They seem to be from the same group, or perhaps they are simple underlings of Saizou. I think this would be a good opportunity to test my skills and teach that trash a lesson.'_

And so the black-haired boy jumped down landing softly on the ground just before the group. Without as much as a warning he thrust his right hand towards the leader and grabbed him by the neck. The others could just stare in shock as Ulquiorra sent their leader flying into the nearest set of trees. When they came to – one of them jumped, aiming to punch the place boy, which resulted in his stomach being kicked, sending him in the opposite direction of the leader thug. The others watched, ready for anything, as their opponent vanished with a static booming sound and then they heard him speak just behind them.

"Bala." and Ulquiorra sent a small red ball of energy straight into the nape of one of the thugs, making the latter flip over and slam into one of the graves, breaking it in the process. The last three delinquents started shifting and transforming, attaining hulking forms of different creatures all made of muscle. Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow, inspecting the surge of their youki. "Trash, all of you. I will show you the difference between us and the futility of your struggling to beat me. Pointless."  
>And with three swift blows the last of them went down, destroying the scenery and cracking the earth. Even their transformed shapes could pose no threat to the sealed Ulquiorra. This made the boy remember his fight with Ichigo Kurosaki – even he was losing with his hollowfication against the unreleased Ulquiorra. To show him the futility of his actions the arrancar even went as far as to release his zanpakuto and then show him his Segunda Etapa transformation – all to make the young human see his actions would yield no results. Now this trash stood no chance whatsoever.<p>

Ulquiorra cast one last glance over the scene, as if making sure they were all down for the count and vanished in a flash of sonido, escaping the scene so not to be caught red-handed in beating up other students on his first day at school.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

He appeared far away from his initial position, on the outskirts of the woods and near the academy. Weird as it was Ulquiorra almost instantly noticed Tsukune not too far away, still… or again… with his luggage in hands and pacing around nervously. Ulquiorra slowly got closer without being seen and listened on to the boy's ramblings.

"… he smashed the concrete to pieces with his bare hands." were the boy's words. Ulquiorra quickly deduced that the brown-haired boy must have found himself in some trouble recently and has probably been attacked. There were no visible wounds however. Ulquiorra heard someone approach and recognized Moka, who seemed to be very attached to Tsukune now. The arrancar wondered if the boy found it bothersome – Ulquiorra certainly would.

"Oh? Tsukune? If we don't hurry we're gonna be late." The vampire girl almost tackled the boy, placing her hands around him as she jumped on him. "M-Moka?" the boy responded with a fearful expression on his face.

The raven-haired boy continued to observe them, listening to Tsukune say that he wants to quit school. _'A wise decision. A human like yourself will most likely die here, and it's only logical to escape. It is futile and pointless to remain here, risking your life in vain.'_ Ulquiorra nodded to himself, observing the pair out of the corner of his eye as he stood behind one of the trees, his back placed against the dead bark. He could not see any other way out of this situation – if the human boy stayed here any longer he would prove to be foolish and suicidal.  
>Then he listened to her speak of her dislike of humans. Ironic it must have been that the one who she befriended now was a human as well. The situation escalated and no matter how strongly Ulquiorra wanted to interrupt and explain – he would not do this. It was not his place to do so, nor were they really friends. He heard Tsukune's real opinion about him. And then in the spur of the moment when Moka tried to talk to the human boy he left, saying that they were no longer friends, and while it was not exactly what he said the meaning had implied just that.<p>

Ulquiorra stayed hidden, watching the girl cry and kick stones from the ground. Did this event really have such a grave blow on her spirits? He did not think she knew in full what it meant to be alone and empty. When he was "born", when he first acknowledged his existence he woke up in the depths of the Menos Forest, surrounded by those of his kind feasting on corpses, and he had been different from the rest of them. That is why they attacked him and tried to kill him… and they all died. For years he would remain alone, empty and without the slightest understand as to why he even existed. She knew nothing of pain.  
>Ulquiorra's thoughts were cut off as Saizou appeared, grabbing Moka and trying to hit on her. Not for long though, as it seemed he was more in the mood to take her by force, assuming his true form, which was for the most part quite ugly. Moka yelled, calling Tsukune. But he was not here and could not help her – only Ulquiorra could.<p>

As Saizou chuckled and lashed out with his long tongue to lick Moka's tender skin a figure appeared between the two of them. A slender pale hand grabbed the monster's face and forced it away by throwing the aggressive thing away. Moka opened her eyes and looked up, meeting the emerald eyes of her savior.

"U-Ulquiorra-kun!" she exclaimed, full of surprise and a mix of happiness and disbelief. He only turned away from her to look back at Saizou, who was getting up by now and throwing away the debris that got in his way. Moka could only see his thin back now and his black hair, while he stood there, both of his hands in his pockets. "Don't worry. I won't let this trash touch you, Akashiya-san." his monotonous voice seemed to break the atmosphere, as it was too different from his kind words, however the girl seemed oblivious to that and pressed her hands together. "Thank you, Ulquiorra-kun."  
>A bestial roar emerged from Saizou's throat as the latter approached them. "You scum! You threw me… now I'm not gonna let it go this time and I'll skin ya alive for it!"<p>

The hulking monster leapt forward drawing his hand backwards for a punch, but before he could even get half-way to his target Ulquiorra jumped forward as well, much faster than his opponent, and delivered a much faster punch, pulling one hand out of the pocket of his pants and slamming hi fist into the chest of his enemy. This time the ogre-thingy did not fly back away, but both seemed to stop mid-air, the monster letting out all the air out of his lungs along with gathered up saliva. Ulquiorra frowned slightly and sonido'd backwards, avoiding the spit, appearing a bit away from both Saizou and Moka. He spoke, his voice calm and quiet, yet every word heard clearly.

"A mere worm like you cannot match up to me in power. You have signed your own execution warrant when you decided to try and force an unwilling girl, who happened to be an acquaintance of mine, into your filthy embrace. More so – you would not stop there, and for that I shall remove trash like you from this world. Resist if you must… it is pointless."  
>Just then a voice echoed through the scene, alarming all three present here of another person here.<p>

"MOOKAA!" and Ulquiorra saw the brown-haired boy run towards the vampire-girl. "TSUKUNE!" she responded with tears still in her eyes.

The following events played out almost too quickly for Ulquiorra, who was rather surprised, to intercept. Saizou, who had pretty much recovered due to the fact that Ulquiorra was using little strength behind his blows, even in his sealed form, had decided to beat up a weaker target and one that annoyed him too much. That resulted in him nearly killing Tsukune in two blows, who had told Moka that he still wanted to be friends with her even if she was a vampire and he was a human… a sort of friendship that transcended even the boundaries of different races. Ulquiorra was very shocked watching the scene unfold. What the boy did was beyond any logic and comprehension of the arrancar and he could still not understand what had driven the weak human boy to do what he did then.  
>When the raven-haired boy finally composed himself he quickly appeared before Saizou, who was aiming yet another kick at Tsukune and grabbed the former by the hand, throwing him into the ground, which he found a bit hard to do with even slightly more than a quarter of his strength. And just as he did…<p>

… a loud clank resounded through the area, resulting in an explosion of dark youki which raised the wind pressure throughout the place. Ulquiorra turned his attention away from his enemy and jumped away a bit, watching in slight surprise as the girl – Moka – transformed before his very eyes. In addition to looking older and changing her hair color to silver instead of pink, her body seemed to mature and develop as well. She opened her eyes, revealing a completely different look from her usual one. Then Ulquiorra noticed that her Rosario was not present, and instead was in Tsukune's hands now. Perhaps that had something to do with this as it seemed the only thing that changed aside from Moka herself? The girl then spoke in a lower and more sensual voice, while looking at Saizou with her now-slitted eyes, much like what Ulquiorra had before.

"What's wrong? You want me, right? Just try and take me… by force, won't you?" the girl gestured towards Saizou, who seemed more than willing to do so. He punched her, or grabbed her… or at least tried to do something like that, which resulted in the ground cracking beneath her feet, but the girl herself had not moved even a bit. She taunted the creature's lack of power and then jumped into the air, delivering a powerful kick to his face.

"Know your place!" and then she softly landed on the ground, as Saizou slammed through multiple trees and graves as he flew away from her. Inner Moka spoke in the meantime. "A low-class monster like you, who has nothing to show for his size, doesn't even make for a decent opponent in a contest of strength."

The girl turned around and headed towards Tsukune, while Ulquiorra began to slowly approach the two of them as well, both his hands in his pockets again. Moka spoke to Tsukune, who seemed to be confused by something. "What's wrong? Are you scared of 'this' me?" she extended her hand and grabbed the Rosario from Tsukune's hand. "Don't get so worried, this me who has not awoken from slumber in a long time is still tired. I have no intention of harming you… as your blood is very delicious to my other self." she noted placing her hand to the boy's chin, which made him blush slightly, while still being confused. Then she turned towards Ulquiorra, with a much more cautious expression, yet it was as soft. "And you… you have protected my other self when she was in trouble and acted like a real gentleman. I thank you for that, and that only." Ulquiorra nodded, accepting her thanks, while making a mental note that this Moka was not only a powerful vampire, but seemed somewhat prideful at first glance, and superior to others in behavior. The girl then raised the Rosario to her neck "Until we meet again you had better take care of the other Moka." and placed it back onto herself, passing out straight into Tsukune's arms as a result. The boy blushed once again and turned his eyes towards Ulquiorra.  
>The raven-haired boy stood silently, watching the two with a still, emotionless expression before turning around and walking away. As he did he heard a voice behind him call out to him.<p>

"Ulquiorra-san! Where are you going?" Tsukune was surprised that his new friend was leaving without a word. Ulquiorra stopped and stood still for a few moments, before speaking without turning back towards Tsukune. "I am creepy and silent, as I heard you say to Akashiya-san. I am sure you feel uneasy with me around and I shall not torment you by my presence. I shall leave." He explained.  
>Tsukune felt something gather in his throat, as if chocking him. Now he felt guilty, but he had no idea that Ulquiorra overheard what he said to Moka… but he changed his opinion towards the silent boy and he was actually grateful that he came to Moka's rescue when he wasn't around. He voiced his thoughts.<p>

"I… I am sorry for what I said before, Ulquiorra-san. I was too quick to judge you and I am really thankful that you came to Moka's rescue when she was in danger. You **are** my and her friend and I'd like to hang around with you, if… that's okay with you." The boy asked. Ulquiorra finally turned his head around to look at Tsukune. He slowly nodded and turned around, approaching the two.

"I think we should take her to the school infirmary…" Ulquiorra proposed and Tsukune nodded.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

The next day Ulquiorra stood in the hallways near the stairs, with his back pressed against the railings and a school bag in his hand, while the other one was resting in the pocket of his school pants. He heard a commotion nearby and turned his head to his left, seeing Tsukune running down the hallways and Moka chasing him while the boys around gave the poor boy glares of death and jealousy. The cute vampire girl wished to suck his blood while he ran away screaming "Nooooo!" in Ulquiorra's direction.

'_Perhaps this is a start of something new. A friendship. I don't know… but I will keep around them until I learn my purpose here and fulfill it. Perhaps this will be… fun.'_

The raven-haired boy felt a smirk tug his lips slightly as Tsukune ran by and Moka waved her hand, calling Ulquiorra's name. He quickly followed them without breaking into a run. This was indeed a start of a new life – one with a purpose behind it and one filled with something, instead of being empty.

END OF CHAPTER 1

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: So here we are. This is chapter 1, and I hope people are going to like it. As you might have guessed - Ulquiorra will simply be an addition to the story instead of replacing Tsukune, like in most fics. There are bound to be some grammar mistakes, but meh - the most of it has to be "okay" to read. Now I tried to keep Ulquiorra as much In Charater as possible and if i made any mistakes - please point them out. Now remember thought, now the man has a heart, so he IS a bit different.  
>And with that - Grimankin OUT!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

First of all – I want to make a little statement that I forgot to do in the first chapter. To fully understand what's happening you **have to know the manga** Rosario + Vampire. Without reading it you won't understand a few things that happen "off screen" in this fic. Why? This story is strictly Ulquiorra Cifer's POV with a few places where we can hear other's thoughts and quick mentions of what's happening elsewhere. So yeah – Ulquiorra is not omnipotent (a shame, really) and cannot be present at all the events that happened in the cannon manga.  
>Just to be safe…<p>

**Disclamer:** I don't own neither Bleach nor Rosario Vampire. Never had, don't, and never will. I'm not a fan of doing disclaimers so this is the last time I say this. Oh and profit? Hell – I need money, but I can't make 'em with fanfics, now can I? Moving on…

A quick "thanks" to those who reviewed on the 1st chapter and:

**Fate fan** – Oh yeah, vampires and demon bats go good together! And Inner Moka will be surprised enough when he simply releases, not counting Segunda Etapa.

**NoctaLightx** – Thanks a bunch. And I really tried with this one. As for Ulq being colder – I may be wrong but he has never thought of himself as such a "higher being". Sure – he referred to others and trash, but he never did it to gloat, really. He was simply stating his logical observations and pointed towards the futility of others (i.e. Kurosaki Ichigo) trying to beat him, since it was impossible. He was like a machine. That's my reasoning for making him act and think they way he did in chapter 1.  
>And Segunda Etapa? Oh hell yeah – it's gonna make a <strong>real<strong> impact on others, I think. But to force him to go into that mode has to be something big. *wink*  
>As for making a fic with Ulq like this – sure go ahead. But remember that my fic is an entry in the author challenge made by S. Knightshade, so if you need the specifics of this challenge – visit his profile and look it up. I, myself, PM'd him before making this fic. He commented on the 1st chapter too (in case you need a link).<p>

**S. Knightshade** – Thanks for your positive input! I hope you'll like the other chapters, this one included, as well.

**Deathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover** – Yeah, seriously. I mean what's up with people always replacing Tsukune? I am sick and tired of that stuff, so yeah – no replacing Tsukune. I have to admit there are good fics where Tsukune is replaced – like that one with Death the Kid instead of Tsukune, but mostly… not cool. Glad ya like it.

One other thing before we begin. If you want to know what I listen to while writing this fic for the effects of atmosphere, search youtube for these two songs: **Alice Madness Returns Surreal Extended** and **Bleach OST Clavar La Espada**. And one other song for action/battle scenes: **Bleach OST What Can You See In Their Eyes.** One other song you will need is this one **Bleach OST Shady Charade** – use this one when Ulquiorra goes into the pool's changing rooms. Seriously – soooo fits the scene after. XD  
>Let's roll!<p>

* * *

><p>xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx<p>

"**Hollow to Vampire" – "Chapter ****2****"**

Ulquiorra Cifer slowly opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings. Currently he was lying on a soft bed covered by a white sheet up to his neck, his head resting on a white pillow. As his head turned he was able to make out most of the room's interior. The bed was across the door, standing near one of the walls, there was a window near the bed, from which the golden rays of sun fell down on his covered feet. There was also a shower room door to the right from the door from Ulquiorra's perspective. The last two elements of his room were a rather massive closet, which contained his clothes and a writing desk opposite of it, near the head of the bed. The room was clean and neatly organized, every paper and book was neatly piled up on the table, the window was slightly opened and the greenish-grey carpet on the floor was placed at the dead-center of the room. It looked like some neat freak with symmetry OCD lived in this room.  
>And it was Ulquiorra's very own dorm room – his apartment for a year or two perhaps.<p>

The young-looking man slowly rose up and threw the white sheets away letting his legs touch the floor. It was rather cold, but it was not like the arrancar would mind such things. He headed towards the shower room. After his initial preparations for the day were complete he quickly dressed into his school uniform and left his room with his school bag over his shoulder, his hair still wet from the shower. It was not really intentional that he left it wet, but simply his inability to use the hairdryer, and remembering about trying to use it at all for that matter. All he did was simply wipe it with a towel and that was it. So it was no wonder that the students he passed while walking down the dorm halls and the staircase were shooting him weird and surprised/interested glances. Naturally, he paid no attention to others.

After he exited the dorm and headed towards the school, walking by a long white wall, he noticed a familiar boy with brown hair walking down the same road just some twenty meters in front of him. Ulquiorra sped up a little and soon closed the distance between himself and the boy. The latter still did not see or hear him, and thus was oblivious to the presence to his left… until it voiced itself, that is.

"Greetings, Aono-san." Tsukune jumped at the words and the monotonous voice he heard, startled by the sudden appearance of his new friend. The brown-haired boy exhaled loudly and responded.

"Good morning Ulquiorra-san. You startled me there." He expressed his fright and looked at Ulquiorra, who only raised an eyebrow, as if saying that he was in no way responsible for doing that to Tsukune and he had no idea that his greeting would cause such an effect on the boy. Meanwhile the boy continued. "So umm… how's your morning?"

Ulquiorra pondered what to say for a while, remaining completely silent and looking up at the grey sky and finally responded. "It is okay." And that was all he said on the matter.  
>Tsukune sighed quietly, thinking that Ulquiorra did not notice that and thought that this was going to be hard to communicate with this guy. And just then both boys heard some commotion behind them and turned to see what was happening. All the boys around were concentrated on a single figure approaching this way – it was none other than Moka Akashiya, who was as cute and beautiful as she ever was. The most appropriate phrase from one of the boys was that "It's like she's surrounded by light!" because she looked as stunning as ever. It seemed that she had become somewhat popular over the days and almost everyone in the school knew of her by appearance. <em>'Do the youkai as well as humans give such high regard to physical appearance? It seems that whoever is the most beautiful gets most attention and praise. Amusing.'<em> Ulquiorra thought, casting a glance to his right, over to the group of about eight girls which all were looking at him, whispering and giggling. They also had heart shapes in their eyes. Ulquiorra only sighed under his breath at the sight of that.

All the while most of the boys were stunned by Moka, she reached the two boys who were standing there and looking at her as well, Tsukune slightly blushing and Ulquiorra seemingly unimpressed. Then Tsukune waved his hand at Moka.

"Morning, Moka-san!" he smiled at her. And then the girl threw herself at the boy, hugging his arm. "Morning Tsukune!" which caused an uproar in the ranks of the other boys gathered all over the place. They all cried out in a single "Eeeehhh?" and it seemed that most of them were dumbfounded and some were acting like they were going to rip Tsukune apart.  
>Then Moka turned towards Ulquiorra, still holding Tsukune's hand, no matter how hard he tried to push her off without shoving her away with force.<p>

"Morning Ulquiorra-kun!" she smiled at him and he nodded, greeting her in his own way. "Akashiya-san." He uttered.

All the while an ominous shadow in the background was bubbling with anger and frustration, thinking up it's palns.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

After the classes were over the trio made their way towards one of the building exits and Moka and Tsukune sat down on the stairs while Ulquiorra, who said he had some other things to do when they were walking down the halls and separated from them, was standing on the small roof of above the door, held with the help of two columns. He was not meaning to intrude any privacy the two might have had, but he found himself interested by what type of relationship the two really had. He saw all signs of infatuation humans so frequently showed in Tsukune's reactions to Moka-san. So he decided to listen in on their conversations. Did he feel guilty or ashamed for doing this? Not in the least.

So there he was, leaning onto the wall of the building above the two. The girl spoke.

"Tsukune, I think it must be lonely to be the only human here, but…I'll be there for you. If there's anything I can do – just tell me, ok?" Ulquiorra could guess she wore a gentle and warm expression on her face while saying those words. The boy answered.

"Moka-san! Why are you doing this for me?" he asked.

"Why?" she seemed to think about it for a second. "Because I… I.. whenever I'm with you I just want to suck your blood!" she exclaimed and then Ulquiorra heard a loud sucking sound from down below, followed by a scream, or a howl, of pain as he heard Tsukune running around in shock. If Ulquiorra was a lesser man he would definitely facepalm, but he did not, instead closing his eyes and exhaling through his nose. _'Perhaps I have been thinking too much. Clearly the boy feels attraction towards Akashiya-san, but her own feelings are very different – she simply wants to keep him around to have fun and as a steady food supply as well. It is that, or she is completely oblivious towards the human's feelings. If I were to guess… hmm… I cannot truly say.'_  
>Ulquiorra looked down and his impassive gaze fell on the scene of Tsukune running away, while Moka called his name.<p>

"Tsukune!" to which he replied. "BUT I'M NOT YOUR FOOD!" and with that he was gone faster than one could say 'Burrito'.

Ulquiorra then jumped down from his vantage point and came up to the girl, who was lost in thought, her index finger touching her lower lip. The raven-haired boy stood there for a few seconds and then placed a hand on her shoulder, making the girl jump a bit and turn her head back towards him. Ulquiorra spoke.

"I saw Aono-san run away. Perhaps you wish to pursue him and 'make up' for whatever you have done to make him flee?" he looked straight into the eyes of the vampire girl and noticed that she shivered a bit when staring back at his eyes. _'Does she find my eyes unnerving?'_ he thought, slightly looking away from her.

"I think… yes – let's go find Tsukune." She nodded firmly and they started walking in the direction he fled. As they walked Moka spoke again. "Ulquiorra-kun..?" she looked back at him. "… it's okay to call me Moka – I really don't mind! You're my friend and there no need to use such honorifics and my last name." she spoke quietly.

"I feel that it is the right thing to do… but if you wish I shall call you 'Moka-san'." He responded, still looking ahead of him without turning his head.

"Yes, please. Just call me 'Moka-san'." She smiled, deciding to go with this variation of her name, seeing as he would not call her 'Moka' no matter how she asked. She just felt that he would not, for whatever reason. Maybe he was familiar with using first names only? She looked back at his profile. _'He seems to be so lonely and quiet. And these tear marks only make him look more sad than he is.'_ she thought and then clenched her fist and made a determined expression. _'I've decided – I will help Ulquiorra cheer up no matter what! I'll give it my best!'_ she was getting pumped up.

Meanwhile Ulquiorra was watching her out of the corner of his eyes, wondering what her expressions meant. He could only guess, actually, but she seemed to be determined to do whatever she thought about and someone it made Ulquiorra feel weirdly out of place, or perhaps he was just getting some kind of feeling in the back of his head that this was not going to end up all right. Soon, thought, he noticed someone in the distance. There was a pair of people – one being Tsukune and the other a blue-haired girl, who was pressing her… quite well-developed breasts against the boy's chest while both were smiling and saying something.  
>He saw Moka stop aside him, her up to her mouth as she asked, seemingly no one. "What? Tsukune?"<p>

Ulquiorra and Moka were quite far and the laughing couple did not notice them. But the two heard a voice behind them.

"**Hehe… aren't you the popular one? But be careful of woman, boy."** The man smoked his thick cigar and simply passed the two by. Moka turned around with surprise.

"Who are you?" she nearly shouted the question.

Ulquiorra simply looked at the bus driver's back, who he had not seen since the very beginning of his stay in this world. "You…" he uttered, a bit surprised on the inside that this enigmatic being was here and not in the bus.

"**Hehehe, I'm just you average passerby. Don't mind me kiddies."** The man looked back, slightly turning his head, and winked at Ulquiorra, heading further into the woods.  
>Ulquiorra and Moka watched as the man disappeared behind the nearby trees and exchanged a glance after which the dark-haired boy spoke.<p>

"We should head back now." And theboth of them left in the direction of the academy.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Moka and Ulquiorra were standing in one of the hallways back in school. Ulquiorra was leaning his back on one of the walls, with his hands in his pockets and his usual "expression" on his face, glancing sideways on Moka. She was showing clearly that she was sad and while she was also leaning back on the wall with her butt she wore a confused and near-teary expression and who knew what was going through her head? Well they were not happy thoughts – that was for sure. Beside her Ulquiorra remained silent – he knew not what to say to the girl to make her happy or less sad at that.  
>The raven-haired boy slowly turned his face towards her and she looked at back at him, a bit more confused with his unreadable expression. Then Ulquiorra placed his hand on one of her shoulders and spoke in a quiet tone.<p>

"I understand you are confused as to what Aono-san was doing, but he and I arrived here at the same day and on the same bus. You need not worry – if I do not know the girl from before, neither does he. Perhaps he was simply offering… help?" he finished, not too sure of what he said himself. The girl just smiled at him, playing with her Rosario and then he saw she got startled by something. What he did not know was that her Inner self contacted her for the first time since her arrival at Youkai academy. The both of them heard a voice from above, on the staircase opposite of them.

"You are a vampire, right, Akashiya Moka-san? That's what the rumors say at least." Both Ulquiorra and Moka looked up to see the girl that was with Tsukune before – the one with big breasts and bluish hair. The girl in question jumped down and landed on the floor gracefully earning quite a riot from the surrounding students. The emerald-eyed boy had to admit – she was quite fair and especially so when close-up, but once again, he found nothing about her interesting him. Aside from those sweet breasts… perhaps she indeed had the same size as Inoue Orih- NO! _'Such thoughts are distracting and useless and I must purge them from my mind to better my concentration.'_ Was his next thought. Ulquiorra quckly hid his interested expression which he had while examining the girl's assets and went back into his "serious mode".

Then he watched and listened to an argument the two girls had, and the other girl – Kurumu Kurono revealed her plan. She wanted to make all the males in this school her slaves who would worship her beauty. Ulquiorra was quite puzzled at this… to say it was a goal that eluded his understanding was to say nothing at all. From his point of view this was a waste of time and effort, as well as a foolish notion, even if she were a succubus. He knew that their kind was dying out, but that meant nothing to him, personally, and he doubted in the girl's ability to… well… he decided to abandon the thought and join in the conversation – and as he did so he saw Tsukune come over. He called out to Moka, but then Kurumu jumped onto him.

"Ooooooh! It's Tsukune-kuuuuun!" she exclaimed, pressing her breasts to his chest. Moka's pissed expression did not evade Ulquiorra and he wondered if the girl herself knew what she was feeling. Not that Ulquiorra knew the feeling – he was just very good at observations – that's all. The blue-haired girl continued. "Thank you so much for earlier!"

The boy panicked, still smiling a bit. "Wh-wh-why are you here Kurumu-san?" his head darted towards Moka. "WAIT! I came to apologize to Moka-san!"

Moka, meanwhile, was getting real pissed. Ulquiorra watched the scene continue until Kurumu faked getting dizzy and noticed her use charm on Tsukune. Then the boy said that he was nothing but food to her and Moka ran away. Ulquiorra lingered a moment and turned to Kurumu… and then walked away, saying nothing.  
>As he walked he thought. <em>'Perhaps this is the perfect chance to make Moka realize her feelings for the boy… feelings she surely has, even if she knows nothing about them. I shall simply give a gentle nudge in the right direction… and if the situation calls will aid the vampire girl in a fight.'<em>

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Just outside the Academy building Moka sat down on the stairs, the corners of her eyes adorned with tears and her hands clutching her knees. She was truly at a loss and wondering what Tsukune thought about her. Perhaps he had seen her as nothing more than a bother, not wanting to associate with her further as he had found a new, better, friend. She sniffed.  
>Then she heard a sound just next to her and turned her head. She saw Ulquiorra sit down next to her, a serious and thoughtful expression on his face. He did not look at her, preferring to stare into the distance where the dead forest started. The girl wondered what the silent boy was doing as she noticed he rarely would sit right next to someone. She could almost feel their knees rubbing against one another, but neither he nor she closed the distance. The silence seemed to linger a bit more and then finally the boy parted his lips and spoke.<p>

"Akashiya-san… what I'm about to tell you is to remain between us and us only. This may be harsh, but you need to listen to me without interrupting or running away from my words." He made a small pause letting his words and their meaning sink into her mind and continued without waiting for any kind of response from her. "I think you are a sweet girl, Moka Akashiya-san, but you seem to take Tsukune too lightly. You abuse him somewhat, drinking his blood almost every time you get close to him. You do not restrain yourself, nor give the boy's feelings a thought, preferring to give into your cravings with no regard to his condition or thoughts about this. This is why he said what he did… partially, at least."

Moka's eyes widened at the boy's words and his serious expression in the emerald eyes as he looked deep into her own. She wanted to say something back but… she couldn't find the words. Basically she finally understood that everything Ulquiorra said was true. She was abusing the boy with no regard to what anyone thought but herself in the process. She hung her head, feeling ashamed and at fault for what had happened. Then she felt as Ulquiorra's hand gripped her shoulder and looked up, a single tear falling down her cheek.

The pale boy forced a small smile on his lips, just for the sake of the impact. "But… if you apologize and rethink your behavior Tsukune will surely forgive you." She sniffed in unsure relief, and Ulquiorra stopped smiling. _'Truth be told… I have no idea if the boy will forgive her, but from what I have seen from Kurosaki… the humans are the forgiving sort. At least some of them.'_ And while his thoughts were unsure he spoke with unshakable confidence on the outside. "And there's one more thing. I believe the girl, Kurono, used a hypnosis power to make Tsukune say that."

"W-what?" Moka gasped at the words, but then she heard an another voice, coming out of the Rosario, which she could not pinpoint for now.

"_**Naïve one – it is as he says. Tsukune is being manipulated. It is called a Charm and it is a type of sorcery that turns the opposite sex into slaves."**_

Moka gasped again as her Rosary lifted into the air slightly and began to shine dimly. "What's going on? A voice coming from the Rosary?" she was so surprised that she forgot all about Ulquiorra being there. The boy had already released her and stood up, now watching her closely. He could not hear what the Inner Moka had said, but he remembered that it was a seal, much like his own, and there was an another Moka inside. It seemed as if they were conversing about something, but alas the arrancar knew not about what. He wondered if he had a split personality as well, as it was unknown if that was a side-effect from the Rosary or some other spell cast upon her. If the other one was a nearly complete opposite… Ulquiorra shuddered ever so slightly at the thought of his released Murcielago running wild, emotions… if they were there… running rampant.  
>He quickly shook his head, banishing the thought and the image.<p>

As he returned to the real world he found that Moka stood up, determination apparent on her face. Ulquiorra deduced that whatever conversation there was in her head – it ended. The girl looked at Ulquiorra.

"We have to save Tsukune! Let's go!" she ordered. Ulquiorra quickly nodded and replied.

"I shall make way outside the infirmary room, in case something happens. If the need arises I will enter via the window." He quickly stated and headed towards his destination. He turned his head to the side, watching as the girl ran inside of the academy.  
>Things were starting to look up, it seemed.<p>

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Ulquiorra stopped beneath the windows of the school infirmary and listened in. He had almost no time to waste as he heard someone shout "Get your hands off!" and this someone was Moka, no doubt. One of the windows above shattered and a winger figure flew through, stopping in mid-air. It was the girl from earlier – the succubus Kurumu Kurono, in her true form. She had two bat wings on her back and a tail sprouting out from beneath her short skirt. Her nails were considerably longer than any normal nails and looked like claws. Not noticing Ulquiorra on the ground she turned towards the window she flew though earlier and shouted.

"Hmph. To be thrown so far… a vampire's power is really something! Come down here and I'll kill the both of you together." She half shouted half hissed at the two inside. Ulquiorra could feel their youki clearly due to his excellent Pesquisa skills.

'_So the girl wishes to kill them both. There seems to be a fair amount of killer intent in her and her words. I'll take care of it then.'_ Ulquiorra thought, feeling his breath slowing down. He entered a state of mind he usually had back in Hueco Mundo when he fought his enemies or opponents – Shinigami or Hollow. He once again became an emotionless machine of death and the bat-girl above would know full well not to get on the arrancar's bad side. He spoke from beneath, alerting the succubus to his presence in the area.

"Before you kill anyone – I shall take care of you, girl." His cold and calm voice did not intimidate Kurmu and she turned around in the air, putting one of her hands on her hip, a superior smirk on her face.

"Oh really? How are you going to fight someone who can fly, while you can't?" she said, recognizing the pale boy from earlier encounter with Moka. If he was her friend too – he would die this instant.

The girl took a fighting stance in the air and swept down, aiming a slash at Ulquiorra. As she descended and swiped her arm she saw her opponent jump aside, evading her attack. Ulquiorra landed on the ground nearby and turned around, he saw one of the trees show a clean cut and split on two in the place where the girl sliced it. The arrancar noted that the cut was very precise and clean. So the girl was stronger than that Saizou punk and his pitiful underlings. He watched the girl turn around and stop in the air.

"You evaded my attack, but this won't last longer! Die!" she exclaimed.

Ulquiorra watched as the girl launched a faster attack. He could use a sonido to get out of the way, but instead decided not to. He quickly positioned himself for a block and held out his hand in the direction of the bat-girl. She let out a single laugh as she saw his bracing for her attack. He was stupid to think that he could block it after seeing what she did with that tree. She aimed her swipe directly at his hands to show him the futility of his actions. Their hands collided with a loud "clank" and the girl found herself launched forwards, unprepared for her attack to be successfully stopped. Seeing as her hand stopped and her body did not she was caught in the momentum and slammed against the still standing Ulquiorra, who had blocked her attack the same way he did Kurosaki's Getsuga Tensho.  
>Their eyes met for a second and for the first time Kurumu felt scared, looking deep into the lifeless green eyes, which seemed like an endless abyss of despair to her. The girl pushed back against him, but he quickly caught her hand.<p>

"Futile." He stated, feeling her shiver.

He swung his hand, throwing his opponent into a tree, watching her slam into it and scream out in pain, the tree falling down broken as the result. With a simple mental command the arrancar's ring shifted into a sword. He lounged forwards and was upon her in a matter of seconds. The girl, still laying on her back, swung his claws at him as he swung his sword. The nails and steel met, creating a burst of sparks as they hit one another. The girl grunted as both monsters pushed against one another, their weapons screeching at the force put into their effort to throw each other back. Finally the girls tail thrust upwards, hitting Ulquiorra in the chin, making him lose balance for a second. It was careless of him to forget of her tail and the girl used it to push him off and fly up into their air.  
>She panted as she ascended, feeling tired already. A voice from below, cold as death reached her ears.<p>

"You aren't going anywhere, trash."

And then suddenly the air thickened, as if a ton of stone slammed onto her head and wings. The girl fell, screaming under her breath, being suffocated. Ulquiorra raised his youki pressure, making the trees around him creak and the ground beneath him shatter. Kurumu could only lift her head, watching as he the boy's sword transformed into a ring she saw on him earlier.  
>He looked down at her like a god, a cold and silent fury in his eyes. And she was like a defiant child or a mortal, crushed by the mere presence of such a powerful being before her. The male monster spoke, his voice powered by the release of nearly pitch-black youki flowing around, ripping the space in a way it looked like rain. While Kurumu was not familiar with this, it was a simple thing – spiritual pressure, which most beings of Ulquiorra's level could use in his former world.<p>

"You are nothing but trash. You threatened Tsukune and Moka and for this you shall die." He didn't notice that he called the two by their first names and continued, keeping the pressure up. "Wallow and despair, for your miserable life is over."

Ulquiorra reached out for her and grabbed the girl, lessening his aura. He pulled her up and released the girl, but before she could fall to her knees, the arrancar delivered a powerful punch to her jaw, sending her away, crashing into a few of the nearby graves. Using a sonido he was again before her, observing her now bloodied face with no emotion, he once again picked her up, seeing tears flowing out of her eyes, but before she could say anything he threw her up, following with a kick to her stomach which sent her flying up into the air. By now the succubus was in no condition to fight, however her pleading would fall on deaf ears even if she could plead for her life. In fact she was barely keeping herself conscious after she fell back to the ground, feeling broken and tattered.

"Ulquiorra-san!" a duo of voices came from behind him and the arrancar turned to see Tsukune and Moka, keeping their distance, fearful expression in their eyes. He lifted the spiritual pressure, letting them closer. Tsukune exclaimed. "What are you doing Ulquiorra-san? You're going to kill her!"

Ulquiorra only turned to see the broken form of the girl nearby and then turned back to his friends. "Indeed. I aim to kill her."

Tsukune was shocked to hear that, but he replied quickly. "W-what? N-no! You can't kill her!" he made a step forward and continued, unsure if coming close to Ulquiorra was safe. "She's not a bad girl at heart – don't kill her!"

Ulquiorra frowned slightly. "She is trash, and trash like her should die." Unknown to him he was angry – really angry right now. It was, perhaps, the first time he ever was. And how could his friends take the succubus' side after what she said and did. "She tried to kill you, and before that she wanted to make you her salve… why do you protect her?" he asked.

Tsukune clenched his fists and pushed his lips into a tight line. "She was just confused and not sure what to do… I think. Anyway – you are wrong! You can't kill her for that."

Moka simply glanced at both boys, unsure what to say or do in this kind of situation. She was also shocked to see Ulquiorra behaving that was and she was plenty afraid of him right now, as was Tsukune, who tried not to show it. She never expected her new friend to show such cruelty and malice towards someone.  
>Unknown to them, Ulquiorra could sense and see their fear. In truth it made him more upset and angry – which was most uncharacteristic of him. He recalled his last memory in Hueco Mundo and turned fully towards the two of his friends. In a calm and monotonous voice he asked.<p>

"You two. Are you afraid of me?"

To his utmost surprise Moka finally spoke out. "Y-yes."

And that was definitely not what he expected to hear. His experience with Orihime Inoue was totally different – she seemed to show no fear of him, even after all he had done and said, but Moka simply stated that she feared him, unlike Kurosaki and Inoue. This made him frown deeper and subconsciously release spiritual pressure as he did. This, in turn, made Tsukune's legs wobble and the young man took a step back, falling on his butt. While he did so, he flailed his arms a bit, accidentally grabbing the Rosario and pulling it off of Moka.

A new dark youki swirled around as the Inner Moka was released. Once again her eyes and hair changed color and her body matured. The girl stood proudly and opened her eyes, showing not a bloodthirsty grin, but a disappointed frown. Her crimson-red eyes locked on Ulquiorra, who in turn looked at her.

She uttered. "Ulquiorra Cifer – I cannot forgive you for scaring my Outer Self like that. Not only that, but at first you seemed to be an ally, and now you act like an enemy. I suggest you stand down and calm down, unless you want me to do that for you." The vampire girl spoke in a commanding and menacing tone, her aura and youki overlapping with Ulquiorra's youki and spiritual pressure.  
>For a few seconds both she and the pale boy watched each other, entering a staredown of sorts. Tsukune could feel two powerful will's clashing with one another. He used the moment and circled around them and try and help the barely-conscious Kurumu, who could still hear and see everything that happened, much to her own surprise.<p>

After a few more seconds, which felt like minutes, Ulquiorra exhaled and closed his eyes. "Very well." He stopped using his powers and youki and Moka stopped doing that as well.  
>Then the arrancar turned around and started walking towards the woods, paying no attention to anyone or anything, his hands in the pockets of his black pants and his emerald eyes staring forward, looking at nothing in particular. The last thing he heard was Tsukune questioning if Kurumu was alright and then he sonido'd further away from them.<p>

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx  
>xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx<p>

About a week had passed since that day when Ulquiorra nearly killed Kurumu Kurono. He had spent all this time alone, even though he was sitting next to Tsukune in class; he never tried to speak to him or Moka as well. They tried to get his attention a few times but he ignored them each time and went about his business, distancing himself from them. He also noticed that Kurumu had joined them and somehow became their friend. She also seemed to be scared of Ulquiorra whenever she saw him nearby and this reaction was pretty much natural and logical to Ulquiorra himself.

There was no excuse, however, for him. He had made a friend and even two of them… and in the end he had broken their friendship himself. He had scared them and could have killed Tsukune if something went wrong and he would raise his spiritual pressure even more. The event simply showed him that there was no way for him to have friends, or anyone, close to him. By this time most of his class knew that he was a loner with a sour attitude and lifeless eyes, so most of the people who would try and approach him had already reconsidered doing that.  
>One other thing that bothered him greatly was how easily the human and vampire accepted the girl as their friend… and the succubus also said that Tsukune was her destined one. When Ulquiorra overheard that he thought it was weird to say he was her destined one simply because of the fact that he stood up for her, or maybe… maybe it was because he shown to have mercy when others would not.<p>

He also overheard that Tsukune and Moka got back to being friends and surprisingly enough, the girl now always asked Tsukune for blood, not biting him when he refused… which was rather rarely, seeing as he seemed not being able to resist the girl. Ulquiorra could only sigh from afar watching that.

Ulquiorra slipped out of his daydreaming and looked around. Right now he was sitting on one of the graves on the border of the forest and the Academy grounds. Today had been a busy day mostly because of a certain event that had transpired this morning.

_**xFlashbackx**_

_Nekonome-sensei tapped her ruler on the teacher's desk, demanding attention._

"_Well then everyone – this academy's goal is to rain monsters to adapt to human society, and as I was saying all along – starting today all of you are going to take up club activities!" and then sensei began to explain the importance of these activities in blending in with the humans and their ways of life. She also mentioned the importance of disguises, earning a question from one of the students as to her own transformation, at which she kind of… failed._

_This only proved to anger, or at least irritate, their teacher to a degree as she proceeded to scratch the face of the said student with her cat-claws, earning a rather shocked expressions from the whole class. And with that and a shameless advertisement of her own "Newspaper Club" the whole commotion started._

_After Ulquiorra walked out of the classroom and into the hallways he was shocked so much that he not only raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes, but slightly opened his mouth too. The whole academy was packed with students and their makeshift recruitment lots, trying to get people into a club of their own. After making his way thought the whole student body Ulquiorra was finally able to get out of the crowd and found a place where no one would bother him at the edge of the forest._

_**xEnd Flashbackx**_

Ulquiorra sighed once again this day, recalling that joining a club was mandatory and everyone needed to join a club, or at least have an important reason not to… and the pale arrancar had no such reason at his disposal, and that meant that he had to find a club to join. So without further pause he headed back to the academy, now that the most intense part was over. Most of the people had already chosen a club and started whatever activities they would have starting today. Ulquiorra entered the building and walked over to the closest announcement board, looking for something that would perhaps interest him.  
>It was then that he saw a rather big poster of the swimming club. Ulquiorra raised a hand to his chin, thinking about it. <em>'I spent most of my time in Hueco Mundo, but even there I had heard of seas and oceans of water, covering everything the eye could see. Perhaps it would be… intriguing to attend the swimming club. I remember Tia Haribel using her zanpakuto and unleashing waves of water. I should try and learn how to swim.'<em> The arrancar decided, admitting to himself and himself only that he had no idea how to swim… so basically he could not swim. How and where would he learn if there was no water in the desert? Exactly.

And so, with that train of thought he headed towards the swimming pool of Youkai Academy, not knowing that his plans would go awry sooner than he had expected.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Ulquiorra had arrived to the swimming club and found it full of life and energy. Boys and girls were swimming in the water, playing games and somewhat… flirting with one another. Nothing Ulquiorra had not seen, but he noticed that everyone were wearing swimsuits and remembered that he found one in his bag. Good thing he carried most of his things in his school bag, since he never knew when he would need something, and unknown to many was that his bag was perhaps the heaviest one in the entire school.  
>The raven-haired boy was greeted by a rather cute girl with blonde curly hair and a black two-piece swimsuit. She explained to him that this club was mostly for fun and there were a few rules of safety as well. He listened and nodded thought the whole conversation, and after some more instructions he was lead to the changing rooms, where he changed into his green-black knee-long swim trunks.<p>

Minutes later he emerged from within the changing rooms. Almost all the girls caught notice of him and a group exclamation sounded though the whole pool area, while a few girls actually squealed. On the edge of the pool stood Ulquiorra, his nearly snow-white body illuminated by the sun, his black hair falling loosely on his face and almost reaching his shoulders on the sides and back. He raised his head and his emerald-green eyes came into view, stunning the female audience even further. On him were only his black swim trunks, which reached down just above his knees. On the sides of the swim trunks were three green stripes going down, and on the left part, near the stripes a word was engraved in green color, saying "Murcielago", which was presumably Spanish. Naturally, even being rather slim and thin, the pale arrancar had pronounced muscles, which he had no habit to show off, or show at all.  
>A single "Hmph." escaped the boy's lips and the pool nearly exploded.<p>

"Kyaaah! Who is that?"  
>"Hey – he's a hottie!"<br>"I wanna swim with him!"  
>"Soooo cooool!"<p>

And so on and so forth. The irony in all this was that the boy himself could not care less as to what the girls wanted. Then a beautiful redhead ran up to him, giggling and showed an O.K. sign back to the other two girls in her group. Ulquiorra side-glanced noticing her, but… too late. The girl shouted something along the lines of "Take a swim." and pushed the unsuspecting man off the edge where he was standing in the direction of the blue liquid substance, as the raven-haired monster called it.  
>Ulquiorra watched the water approach in slow-motion, catching the surprised eyes of most girl and the still angry faces of most boys who had their spotlight stolen from them. His emerald eyes reflected the sunlight which was in turn reflected by the watery surface of the pool as he slowly flew to his imminent doom. His mind was fast enough to calculate that the pool was deep, without any areas where he could stand in the vicinity. One thought went through his body louder than the others.<p>

'_Bad day.'_

And he hit the water (SPLASH), splashing the liquid all around the area where he fell. The girls went quiet, expecting a wet Ulquiorra to come out and any second, but all they saw was a still body going down lower – just like a brick. Ulquiorra did not move a muscle after hitting water and everyone saw it. Someone shouted, finally making the pool come alive.

"I think he's drowning!" to everyone's surprise it was a male voice, that actually belonged to Tsukune.

A few people quickly took action and soon Ulquiorra was once again above the water. It was Ichinose Tamato, the swimming club captain and the hottest girl around, who had saved poor Ulquiorra, now holding him by the chest, both of them still in the water with their heads above the liquid. Ulquiorra still had his eyes open and finally he exhaled and inhaled, showing that he was perfectly fine. He also seemed to pay no attention to the girl's breasts being pressed against his back rather tightly, so yes – he could feel her though her though her bikini. In the end – the girls were rewarded with a sight of a completely drenched Ulquiorra as the captain helped him to sit down on the edge of the pool, with his legs in the water. The man slowly brushed the black strands of hair away from his eyes, leaving a single strand over his nose.  
>Ichinose sat down along with him and smiled at him, showing a seductive expression.<p>

"So you can't swim? You should be more careful next time, but don't worry – I'll be sure to talk to the girl who did this." She assured him, not seeing a reaction from him other than that he looked at her and nodded, still silent. "Say…" she moved in closer, pressing her breasts to his arm. "… I can teach you to swim if you want to."

She tried her best to sound sweet and wanted, but alas she knew not that Ulquiorra was not only hot (AN: Yes. I'm a dude and totally straight, but there's no way around it – Ulq is HOT. Nuff said.), but he was also impervious to any attempts at seduction and flirting. Half of it because he had no idea what flirting was or how he should respond to it. He simply responded.

"Alright." And that was pretty much it. He still felt no wish or need to talk with anyone more than he wanted to. Only two people he would speak to more than usual were Moka and Tsukune, but they were nowhere in sight. But no – actually the emerald-eyed arrancar spotted Tsukune, who had gotten out of the pool and was drying off with a towel. Ulquiorra simply sat there, paying no more attention to Ichinose.  
>It was then that Tsukune noticed the arrancar as well and surprisingly enough, or maybe not, came closer. The two looked at each other for a moment and then Tsukune spoke, finding the courage to start a conversation and say what he wanted to.<p>

"You know Ulquiorra-san… about that thing a week earlier – Moka and I already forgave you. We understand you just wanted to make sure no harm would be done to us and 'that' Moka can be overly harsh I guess. Moka already said it's okay and Kurumu is willing to give you a chance. If… If you still wanna be friends – just come talk to us. Okay?" the boy looked up from the floor and at Ulquiorra, finally noticing that the deep emerald eyes looked back at him with shock and surprise evident in them. What Tsukune did not know was that the boy before him did not understand how he could be forgiven so easily.

Ulquiorra looked away, concentrating on the water and then stood up. Tsukune was about to move away but he heard Ulquiorra speak quietly.

"Thank you."

Tsukune looked back to see Ulquiorra moving away from the water and heading for the changing rooms. The human boy turned his attention towards the swimming club captain, noticing a frown on her beautiful face. He spoke out, thinking that perhaps this was not the best time. But anyway – Moka had ran away earlier, just before Ulquiorra arrived and he was not going to join the club without her.

"Umm… Tamao-senpai, I… I'm sorry, but I don't want to stay in the swimming club…" he said, bowing to her apologetically.

In turn the captain replied. "Oh… what are you talking about? After all I have done to chase that bothersome Moka away, now two of the best boys are going to run away. I don't think so." She stated, lifting her hand, which now looked very different – like that of an amphibian. "Didn't I say it clearly before? Either you have your heart stolen or you steal theirs!"

Then - after saying that, the woman grabbed Tsukune and threw him into the water, jumping along with him herself. After that all hell broke loose in the swimming pool - girls turning into mermaids and boys' life-force being drained out of them. Just then Ulquiorra stepped out of the changing rooms with a white towel hung over his neck, his hair partially dried off, and saw what had transpired. The man saw Ichinose grabbing Tsukune and transforming completely, throwing off the beautiful visage and turning into a monster.  
>Just as she was about to bite Tsukune, who smelled just like a human to her, which was very close to the actual truth, Moka appeared to save Tsukune. Ulquiorra heard the mermaid say that as a vampire the girl couldn't do a thing to help her friend. Of course – Ulquiorra had been told of the vampire's weakness to water, but before he had a chance to do anything the pink-haired girl jumped into the water, sending bolts of electricity through the water, scaring the mermaids. After a few moments, and Kurumu running into the pool area as well and telling Tsukune that water drained vampire's powers, the human boy successfully removed the Rosario and awakened the Inner Moka, who was not happy – in fact she was pissed off.<p>

A short fight ensued and once Moka jumped out of the water, one of the mermaids jumped out as well, full of confidence while Ichinose shouted.

"Stop fool! You're out of the water!" but it was too late, as the Inner Moka punched the mermaid, sending her down into the water again, after which the vampire girl landed safely on the edge of the pool, by the water. Ichinose frowned, but spoke again. "In the water we are more powerful than you, vampire! Try and get us!"

An emotionless, cold voice sounded through the area. "There will be no need for that." and everyone turned to see Ulquiorra standing by the pool, calm and confident as if he had no care in the world. Ichinose only laughed.

"And how are you gonna defeat us? We're not getting out of the water – and if I remember correctly – you can't swim! Hah!" the mermaids snickered along with their leader, taunting Ulquiorra.

The pale boy, however, paid no attention to their words and continued. "You nearly ate Tsukune-san and made Moka-san risk her life in an attempt to rescue him. I will see to it that trash like you are punished for your deeds." The mermaids quieted down, hearing his words and more importantly – his voice. In it was no room for compassion and mercy – only a promise of certain and imminent death. The arrancar raised his hand, pointing a single finger at the mermaids. The next instant a small ball of green energy started forming at the tip of his finger, and it seemed to form from around the air. Moka instantly recognized it as powerful and concentrated youki and took a step back. The green ball of energy formed itself, increasing in size but a little and a single word escaped Ulquiorra's lips.

"Cero."

A big ray of green energy shot out from the small ball on the tip of the boy's index finger, sending a wave of wind pressure outwards and clearing all possible dust out as it flew, hitting the pool and the mermaids in it, who had seconds to dive under the water. When the ray hit the pool it exploded, eviscerating water and shattering stone and steel, sending the mermaids flying and screaming through the air. With a single attack the whole pool was destroyed, leaving a crater in it and a few puddle of water that remained. Everyone who stayed conscious were shocked the immense power of the attack that Ulquiorra preformed and started at him in awe. Even the Inner Moka was taken aback by the display of power.

Finally everyone calmed down, apart from Ulquiorra was as calm as ever, and Inner Moka approached Tsukune, slapping him. Kurumu ran towards the boy and half-hugged him.

"What are you doing to Tsukune?"

"The other Moka cried. Due to her inferiority complex over being different from the others she blamed herself for not being able to swim. She's always had to live with being hurt in human society like that!" the Inner Moka looked at Tsukune with anger in her slitted, crimson eyes. "The kind of men who are unable to think about anything but themselves have no right to come near me! Stay out of my sight… Tsukune." She finished. Then she cast a look at Ulquiorra and said nothing turning away.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Three days had passed and Moka neither once showed up. Tsukune was sad and hurt, but Ulquiorra had an another thing in mind he had to take care of. It was his time to talk to a certain individual who he had wronged at some point in time before. It proved to be harder than it seemed.

He slowly approached Kurumu Kurono, who was sitting at their table alone, eating her lunch. Ulquiorra sat down opposite her, startling the girl a bit. He took no time to wait and spoke immediately.

"Kurono-san. I am sorry for what I have done earlier when I fought you. I have no excuse, but I sincerely wish to earn your forgiveness. Is there something you would have me do for you to forgive me?" he raised his eyebrows, looking at her dead in the eyes.

The girl seemed to be taken aback at first, but quickly composed herself. She took a moment to think and then replied. "I… I forgive you. You see – my kind is dying out and we Succubae are desperately searching for our destined one's. I also went out of control that day, so… I forgive you and you don't need to do anything for it." The girl showed a kind smile, her speech not something she would usually say. She was indeed a very kind girl at heart.

'_At heart…'_ thought Ulquiorra. A heart was something that allowed you to forgive. Once again a single word escaped his lips – a word he found to be saying much more than he ever did before, if he did at all.

"Thank you."

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Later that day Ulquiorra and Kurumu were walking down the hallways, engaged in a one-sided conversation. Kurumu was talking and talking and talking like there was no tomorrow, paying no attention to the fact that Ulquiorra only nodded at times – she seemed to be content with that kind of response. Both of them stopped and Kurumu grew silent as they saw Nekonome-sensei and Tsukune talking about the Newspaper Club. They saw Tsukune hang his head and say. "Well… I…" but then a voice behind him spoke out.

"That's great! I'll join that club!"

Ulquiorra felt a slight smile tug on his lips as Tsukune turned around to see Moka, who was okay and smiling. As it turned out she was sleeping this whole time because of the power drain and she was not mad at the human boy. Then Nekonome butted in.

"Then you two have both decided on the Newspaper Club, right?" she nearly jumped at them, making the two make a step back in shock and surprise. The next instant Kurumu jumped up and raised her hand.

"I am also joining!" which made their teacher smile. The blue-haired girl turned towards Ulquiorra and smiled at him. "Aren't you going to join too?"

Ulquiorra looked at the smiling faces that surrounded him and closed his eyes, opening them the next second.

"Sure. I shall join."

END OF CHAPTER 2

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So here it is, finally. It took long enough to update this thing. To be perfectly honest I just hand days going on without inspiration – dunno why. So, basically I wrote this chappie in 2-3 days. Hurrah! Huzzah! With so many people liking and faving it I felt that I would simply betray those who liked it – so there's no way in HELL I am abandoning this fic. So yeah – I'll try and update as soon as possible. I rarely check my mail so when I went to do so two days ago and found 100+ messages on "Hollow to Vampire" I was freaking out(in a good way). Lol, seriously. Thanks to all those who reviewed, again, and a thank you to all who silently praised this work. I hope I'm not letting you down with this chapter…  
>I do like how it turned out actually, and I hope you do too. Although I did felt that part when Ulquiorra "confronted" Inner Moka after his battle with Kurumu rather uncharacteristic, but Ulquiorra may as well have his unusual moments, rarely but they will be there. Besides… I needed to add some drama, lol. <strong>*brick'd*<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**

Hey – an update. Well whaddayaknow? Okay, enough fooling around now.

Spasibo(Thank you) to EVERYONE who reviewed and faved so far, and:

**S. Knightshade**– Well I always thought Inner Moka was somewhat of a hypocrite, especially at the beginning, mostly cuz she's the "tsundere" type. And sure – she is ruthless, but she always beats people up – not outright kills them in cold blood. Besides – she wasn't against Ulq killing Kurumu. She was angry at Ulquiorra for scaring Outer Moka for the most part. Thanks for your kind words on chapter 2.

**Insane Wombat** – Thanks for loving the fic and yeah – Ulquiorra mostly relies on logic and calculations – not feelings. And I doubt Inner Moka feels guilty… but who knows – I certainly don't! *wink* As for his power – she isn't freaked out, per se, but plenty surprised and impressed for sure.

**D****eathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover** – Hmm, I thought about Ulq fighting Moka, but no matter how I tried to imagine it going, I couldn't see it as believable and In-Character. I dunno – Ulquiorra is not the sort to say: "What the f**k you say? I dare ya! I'm gonna smash your face in for trying to act all high and mighty with me!" and go on and attack Moka – no, that's more like Grimmjow there. And yeah – the whole "Pool Calamity" is my favourite scene in chapter 2. Especially when he comes out in his swim trunks, and later when he cero's the pool. Mwahaha!

**NoctaLightx** – Heheh, thanks. I don't find it really hard to make Ulq fit in with the rest of the cast. It's rather easy. Okay – for everyone who wants to make a crossover fic with Ulq in it – remember these pointers:

1) First – you need to re-read/re-watch a few parts of Bleach where Ulquiorra is present. Fight or non-fight does not really matter. What you need to do is get a grasp of Ulquiorra's actions. Observe him and analyze his words or deeds – think about what makes him do/say this or that. You'll find out quickly that you can understand his viewpoint a lot better than you used to.  
>2) Second – keep in mind that Ulquiorra is a cold-hearted being, even if with a "heart". For hundreds of years he was an emotionless killing machine driven by logic. If Ulquiorra suddenly goes all emotion-full and feeling – it's just going to look weird and will leave a bad aftertaste. Even if he changed – it's not like he can do so completely. In fact – Ulquiorra is the type of person to change slightly and will maintain his overall style of interaction and thought. Old habits die hard!<br>3) Third – it's really hard to piss the man off. I read a few fics where Ulquiorra is easily angered and goes near-to-berserk on someone. NOT HAPPENING EVER! Ulquiorra can be angry – but his anger is the "cold fury" or "cold malice" type – he's not likely to "explode". He'll do it gradually in worst case scenario. Whatever the case though – even in hate Ulquiorra retains his logic. He will not release into his Ressureccion just to teach someone a lesson or something. He will do so when driven to his "normal limit" – so making Ulquiorra go Ress on someone is bullshit. Now I know people want to write out how he kicks some ass, but seriously – people have to be patient with this.  
>4) Fourth – it is, indeed, okay to make Ulquiorra more human if you want to. The main point is not to go (once again) overboard with this. Be careful in what you want him to express. Think about how hard and "alien" it is for him to try and express himself. He may be a mastergenius observer, but he has no idea how to properly show what he feels or what he wants to do. It's okay to give him a hobbie a habit or a "like", but be sure to think about it before doing it. Ulquiorra who suddenly redecorates his room in all pink or buy's a pet rabbit is… well weird. You get the point.  
>5) Fifth – Ulquiorra and girls. Most important this is my young padawans. Ulquiorra has NO IDEA WHATSOEVER how to flirt or show affection withto girls that are interested in him. I mean – where in the Nine Hells would he learn how to? He's like an even more oblivious and inappropriate Starfire from Teen Titans (he's not as cheerful, lol). His first logical conclusion is to act polite towards them or ignore advances at all. However – he may slowly get to understand what affection is, but mostly it has to be the girl who's gonna try and warm him up to her, since he's not the spontaneous sort of guy. When I see Ulquiorra suddenly make semi-lewd comments and force himself onto girls, or even more so – try to flirt with them or win their affection I'm like: "Whoa… what was THAT?"

And so – keep to these five holy tenets and you will be able to make an awesomely believable Ulquiorra in any universe. One last advice – think of him first. Don't mind how others will react to him – that just makes it more fun. He will do the things he will and pay no attention to other's opinion until it's too late, unless they are his friends.  
>Whew…. I'm out of breath.<p>

**Cmcwiki** – Heh. You see – I am not a fan of "harem", personally, but… just for you… and some other people out there – it won't be a strictly UlquiorraxMizore story. Ulquiorra will have a second girl, but I have to warn you – in the end Ulquiorra and Mizore WILL have a romance. No way around it and no way in HELL am I gonna change the pairing. I can't wait till she joins in the story. *drools* (**FUN FACT**: My favourite girl is Kurumu Kurono, seriously. I feel so bad about Ulq kicking her ass this much, but as I said before – Ulq comes in first – everyone else are not as important.)

**Kel'thuzad The Summoner** - Right you are my good sir. The story is young, but this chappie is already 10+K words so it's not gonna be that big until it catches a lot of attention, IMHO. Aw.. I feel like I'm braggin, but you guys are so wonderful you make me feel so proud, lol. Too proud. Hope you like the chap after a certain point here - not to spoil... grrrh!

*pants*…Wooh… okay… haah… this is officially… gah… the longest Author Notes I have… ever… done. He-eh, onto… whew… the story!

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

"**Hollow to Vampire" – "Chapter ****3****"**

"Please Tsukune – I wanna suck your blood!" the girl told him with a bright smile.

"Eh? Me? Well I…" the boy managed to say before the girl hugged him, piercing his neck with her fangs, emitting a loud slurping noise. After the deed was done the girl let go of the boy, who fell down on the ground, seemingly passed out. The pink-haired girl proceeded to jump around happily.

"Aaah! Thanks for the treat! Your blood really is the best Tsukune! I think I might get addicted to you!" the girl said, not knowing that she already seemed pretty much addicted to the boy's blood.

Then the school bell rang, alerting all the students of Youkai Academy that the lessons have begun and both the satisfied Moka and wobbling Tsukune headed off to class. On their way they met up with their friend – Ulquiorra Cifer.  
>Unknown to the group, there were two figures standing on a nearby tree which was big enough to be used as a perfect vantage point for the area. From there the two shadowy figures could observe the small group all the way to the entrance gates. One of the figures seemed to be taller than the other, but both were clothed in robes and hoods. The only difference was that one of the figures, the slightly shorter one, seemed to be somewhat slouching forwards – the very same figure then crouched down on the branch, able to perfectly keep balance while doing so. A voice came from beneath the hood.<p>

"Tch… just watching the lot makes me wanna vomit. Although I gotta admit – I never expected **him** to get so nice and cuddly with someone." The crouched figure then chuckled ominously and continued. "But I don't give a shit one way or the other. Only question is – why don't we jump 'em right there and kill the lot?"

The taller figure took some time to reply, seemingly thinking. "Ya know that doin' this quick an' easy would'a taken out all the fun, right? 'Sides – Master got a plan fer them, ya know that." the standing figure emitted a single chuckle.

And then both figures disappeared in a blur.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Later that day Tsukune, Moka, Ulquiorra and Kurumu, who joined them after nearly suffocating Tsukune by putting his head in-between her breasts, were sitting in an empty classroom, watching Nekonome-sensei, who stood before them holding a sample of the newspaper. The teacher smiled happily while speaking.

"So – let's begin the club activities for the Youkia Academy Newspaper Club!" she said, which made the students look around the empty classroom, wondering if they were all the members of the club. Ulquiorra did not move his head, letting his pesquisa do the scanning for them. He felt someone approaching in the corridor, but that could simply be anyone out there going through the area by their own business. Suddenly Tsukune spoke out.

"Sensei… I just got into this club and I don't know anything about it but… is it really just the four of us here?" the boy asked, gesturing towards the two fair girls and the pale boy.

"Don't be silly." The teacher replied, followed by a voice. "Excuse me!" which sounded from the other side of the doors. Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes at the door, recognizing the earlier presence. Nekonome continued. "See? Here he comes – the only other member."

Then a boy entered, opening the door before him. "Man, I'm sorry! Here I am late on the first day."

Then a 2nd Year student came in. He was taller than all of them, even Ulquiorra, and had black hair reaching down to his shoulders, held up with a thin headband just above his forehead. He was carrying two bouquets of flowers in his hands. The boy introduced himself as Morioka Ginei – the club's President, but asked to call him simply "Gin", showing a lady-killer smile. The boy quickly gave the flowers to both Moka and Kurumu, stating that those flowers very suitable for such lovely girls.  
>Ulquiorra quickly noted that Gin paid almost no attention to Tsukune and himself, preferring to talk to the girls as it seemed. He also noticed that this Gin fellow showed a special smile to Moka. Perhaps he had some kind of affection for the girl as well as the human boy? Only time could tell. Then Nekonome-san said that she needed to attend a staff meeting and asked Gin to explain the details of the club's activities to the new members.<p>

After that Gin put his hands on the teacher's desk and attained an air of seriousness to him. Of course – he was nowhere near the serious and indifferent expression that Ulquiorra had, but their expression's were actually different – Gin looked rather motivated. He began.

"Let's see… first off I'll give you the explanation of just what kinda club this is." he stated. "The goal of the newspaper club is to publish the school newspaper! Most of your activity will be reporting on all kinds of things within the academy and putting them in the newspaper. We'll be put into dangerous situations time after time for the sake of news. I'll tell you this now – this isn't gonna be easy, so yea better be prepared." Gin concluded, somewhat scaring, or at least making others think about this.  
>Moka smiled and turned to Tsukune.<p>

"He seems to be someone we can depend on, right?" she asked, and Tsukune nodded.

"Umm… yeah."

Gin showed a small grin at that, which did not escape the "all-seeing eye" of Ulquiorra who frowned slightly at the sight of that. The pale arrancar still had no luck in reading this guy. He seemed to be rather good with words and laid back, while being serious the minute afterwards. _'No matter. Soon enough we shall see his true self and make our opinion on him – whatever it may be. For now he seems nice enough, but the Espada taught me to see beyond the exterior, especially when this man behaves like that.'_ Ulquiorra though, making sure to observe this man carefully. He had spent enough time in the Youkai Academy to begin suspecting all and everyone. Enemies and evil monsters could be hiding anywhere, waiting for the right time to make their move – like those girls in the Swimming Club. The fact that mermaids had to consume lifeforce of others was no excuse from being defeated and nearly destroyed at the hands of the Bat Demon.  
>Ulquiorra sighed, watching their sempai, who had already said that he was "messing with them" and that he felt no need to be so strict and serious. Then he asked the girls to put up the posters on the back wall.<p>

The raven-haired boy had no idea that nearly the same thoughts were going through Tsukune's head, who analyzed the man, although not as deeply as Ulquiora. The arrancar also wondered why the girls were tasked with putting the posters so high up if Ulquiorra could already have done that. Both he and the human boy watched as the girls struggled to place it higher and saw Gin squat down, looking up the girl's skirts.

Tsukune was shocked, wondering what Ginei was doing, while Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow. The pale boy came up to Gin, who seemed not to mind him much and squatted down as well, looking at the same spot where Gin was looking. His emerald eyes locked onto Kurumu's white panties, while she was nearly moaning and groaning, trying to get the poster higher. Gin, himself, side-glanced at Ulquiorra. The most surprising thing was that the arrancar's eyes remained the same – an impassive gaze lingered on his eyes and an indifferent expression on his face.  
>But then a small line of red liquid suddenly flew down from the boy's nose and he glanced down, bringing his fingers to his nose and standing up. It was then that Tsukune jumped in, blaming both Gin and Ulquiorra in peeping.<p>

"What are you guys doing? Please stop!" the brown-haired youth cried, panicking.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Gin asked, feigning innocence.

"Please don't pretend you don't know! You were just looking up their skirts, weren't you?" Tsukune kept panicking. Gin replied with a smile.

"There's no way I'm that kind of guy who'd do something so lame as that. Nor is Ulquiorra-kun, right?" Gin looked at Ulquiorra, who had already wiped off the blood from his face. The raven-haired boy looked back at Gin and slowly nodded, earning a shocked response from Tsukune.

"EEEEH?"

The girls came down and asked about the cause of the commotion, to which Gin replied.

"Oh… well, this dude says he got an eyeful of your panties!" Gin smiled sheepishly, pointing at Tsukune. It were the girl's turn to be shocked, while Tsukune desperately tried to deny the thing happening and point out that it was Gin who was peeping but it only made it worse as he admitted seeing their panties. Before the silent Ulquiorra had the time to react the two girls slapped the poor boy and left, fuming over the situation. Gin only laughed at this, calling Tsukune a moron. The meeting was over and Tsukune hurriedly left, leaving Ulquiorra and Ginei alone.  
>The raven-haired boy moved towards the exit, but then stopped before leaving the clubroom, turning his head to the side and looking at his sempai.<p>

"You should understand that I shall let it slide for once… but do so again and I shall not be as passive as I was today. While your… interest is understandable – I do not recommend this to continue." Ulquiorra's eyes showed a silent and cold threat that made Gin shiver just a little. _'He need not know that I stayed silent because I was no better today. Was it shame? I don't know. But now I do have a better understanding of this shady man.'_ Ulquiorra noted to himself.

And with that he left the clubroom.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

The next morning Ulquiorra was witness to Moka telling Tsukune that she disliked "dirty guys" and that she had no wish to associate with him further. Ulquiorra managed to catch up to Tsukune while thinking. _'Peculiar – the weeks before Moka-san wanted nothing more than to be with Tsukune and now she is rejecting his company herself. Weird indeed these humans… and monsters are. Perhaps she will calm down later.'_

Finally when Ulquiorra got close he placed a hand on Tsukune's shoulder, making the boy turn back to see him.

"Don't worry too much." Ulquiorra simply stated.

Tsukune showed an angry face and replied. "Hey! You were the one who was looking up their skirts with Gin in the first place! Why did you say nothing?"

Ulquiorra took a moment to reply. "Perhaps… I was ashamed. It is pointless to think of what has happened. You should try and make up with Moka-san and Kurumu-san somehow. And I'll keep a better eye on Gin-sempai." And then he and Tsukune parted their ways before and after classes.

Today Ulquiorra decided to spend time in the cafeteria after the lessons were over. There he spotted a familiar figure with blue hair, but decided not to call her over. He never did call anyone over or asked the others to sit with him – he simply tagged along with the others to most places they went and usually ate, walked and did other activities completely silently, attracting no attention. He spoke only when spoken to, unless the situation prompted him to say something first like earlier today in the morning with Tsukune. One might even thing he did not exist at all. Sometimes the others even forgot he was there until they turned around seeing him with them, sometimes even jumping up in surprise or startled – especially so when he spoke out of the blue.  
>So even now Ulquiorra did nothing to alert his presence to the girl, but luckily for him… or not, the girl noticed him on her own and came over with her own tray of food. Compared to him she had smaller portions on her tray and Ulquiorra made an assumption she had kept her diet, judging by everything she had told him when they were together alone. The succubus would be surprised at the fact that all the time she would speak Ulquiorra did listen carefully, even if not showing it. Well… he never did show he listened. The girl sat down opposite of him.<p>

"Ulquiorra-kun… is it true that Tsukune was looking under our skirts yesterday? I find it hard to believe that." She asked, looking concerned.

"It is true… but he was not the only one, Kurmu-san. I did so too." Ulquiorra admitted with a sigh, making Kurumu go red in the face. She was about to do something but Ulquiorra raised his index finger, telling her to remain silent. "And so did Gin-sempai. While Tsukune and I did so on pure accident – he did so with a purpose. He's not as honest as you think."

Kurumu looked surprised, but nodded, accepting Ulquiorra's words. After all – the boy never seemed to lie as much as she knew. "So… he was the one…"

When both of them finished eating they exited the cafeteria and entered one of the hallways, only to see Tsukune and Ginei going somewhere. Kurumu looked back at Ulquiorra, an evident question in her eyes. The raven-haired boy only nodded showing that he agreed with her idea of following the two quietly.

Afterwards the two of them witnessed how Ginei Morioka framed Tsukune, making him look into the girl's changing rooms and taking a picture of that after telling him of his plan to make Moka his woman and that it was love at first sight, which sounded rather hypocritical to Ulquiorra, who only raised an eyebrow in amusement to this. Then a group of girls chased Tsukune away, beating him up in the process and tying him up as well.  
>Ulquiorra turned to Kurumu, telling her what he thought about all this.<p>

"This seems like a plan to get to Moka-san, while rendering Tsukune unable to do anything. Quite clever to be frank, but not clever enough. I did warn the man that should he take things further I would take action. His mistake was forgetting about us and it shall be his undoing. We should keep quiet for now and help free Tsukune later."

Kurumu smiled. "I was just thinking the same thing!"

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

As the late evening came, Tsukune was still in the storage room where he had been put as a prisoner. He was desperately trying to get out, but nothing he did made the door budge, and the only window was too far up to reach. That was until the door shattered and flew inwards, nearly hitting the human boy in the process. After the smoke settled Ulquiorra stepped in with Kurumu in her true form behind him.

"That was faster that I expected." Kurumu said, quickly flying over to Tsukune and cutting off the ropes that held his hands to his body.

"Kurumu-chan? Ulquiorra-san?"

"We have no time to waste. Ginei-sempai must be stopped. Moka-san is on the rooftop with Gin – I can feel their youki… especially his. It is a lot more powerful than it used to be and almost out of control." Ulquiorra told them with his usual tone of voice. Kurumu quickly grabbed Tsukune and flew out the window, going towards the rooftop while Ulquiorra simply vanished with a low static sound.

Moments later all three appeared on the rooftop where they saw Moka being attacked by some kind of monster, but it's features were hidden by a shadow. It was Gin nonetheless – and in his true form. Then Kurumu explained to Moka that she and Ulquiorra saw how Gin framed their friend and made him peep unintentionally. Gin's reaction was not a happy one.

"Damn you! How dare you get in the way of our special moment? BACK OFF!"

Gin turned around, revealing his transformed appearance. He was a werewolf – one of the strongest monsters, which could go on par with a vampire – even so during a full moon, when their power reached its peak. Ulquiorra quickly analyzed the opponent's youki and he had to admit that perhaps he would have a hard time dealing with this guy. He remembered that their main advantage was not their inhuman strength, but their speed.  
>Ulquiorra was not the first to react, however, as Tsukune started running towards Moka with his hand extended. Gin appeared in front of him and swiped his leg at the human's legs, making the boy trip and fall. Gin was about to finish him off afterwards, but during his fall Tsukune accidentally removed the Rosario from Moka's neck, making the girl transform into her true self.<p>

The girl's hair and eye color changed along with her figure maturing. She opened her eyes, revealing her crimson, slitted gaze and a vicious smirk. Gin seemed to be impressed, but not alarmed.

"Heh, this is Moka-san's true form! Haha – even after transforming you are still beautiful, Akashiya Moka!"

The werewolf proceeded to tell the vampire girl that he would make her his, like most people/monsters before him and jumped at her. Inner Moka retaliated with a powerful punch, but instead of hitting the wolf monster she swiped at thin air, while Gin was already standing on another spot, laughing at her attempts to hit him. He explained that his power was speed and everyone were left shocked as he showed an incredible display of it, nearly teleporting all over the place. One person who was not shocked was Ulquiorra.  
>As the werewolf stopped to say something not too far away, Ulquiorra spoke out.<p>

"This speed? Ridiculous. Let me show you what speed truly is." the atancar stated, earning a few surprised expressions. "Sonido."

And then Ulquiorra vanished, appearing behind Gin, delivering a kick to the monster's back. It sent the wolf flying away, but the latter regrouped in mid-air and used a nearby wall to launch himself back at Ulquiorra. The raven-haired boy once again disappeared, making Gin miss and reappeared not too far away.

"So this is your limit? Disappointing, werewolf."

"I don't know who you are, but this speed… and you have not assumed your true form… what kind of monster are you?" Gin turned around, watching Ulquiorra closely, as did all the others.

The pale boy only raised his right hand, showing his silver ring, now illuminated in the bright light of the moon, reflecting it's glow. "It is my seal. It is somewhat similar to Moka-san's Rosario… however unlike her I can remove it at will, assuming my true form. I shall show you – only if you wish." Ulquiorra lowered his brows, assuming a threatening expression.

Gin half-barked half-laughed. "No need." and in the next moment he vanished. Ulquiorra's eyes widened. _'What? Where did he go? My eyes could not foll-'_ the man never got the chance to finish his thought as Gin appeared before him in the blink of an eye, if not faster, delivering a powerful kick to the head, sending Ulquiorra into metal railings on the edge of the roof. The kick was hard enough to bend the railings outward and give Ulquiorra trouble to stand up.  
>As the pale monster stood up his gaze reverted back to his usual one.<p>

Gin wasted no time and appeared next to Moka, aiming to slash her, but the girl grabbed his arm blocking his attack. As it turned out, the clouds had shrouded the moon, blocking the werewolf's full power. Overhearing this Ulquiorra only sighed – indeed Gin was fast and powerful, but his main source of strength was too impractical and unpredictable.  
>The werewolf aimed an another attack, boasting that he still had power enough to beat Inner Moka, but she attacked first. With one swift motion the girl raised her leg, slamming it into her opponent's face and releasing her grip on him at the same time. As a result not only Gin flew away, slamming into the railings as Ulquiorra did before, but he also fell over and down towards the ground. What happened to him next – no one could see. Moka, for one – did not care.<p>

"Weakling. Did you really think someone like yourself was fit to be with me? Realize your place!" she stated, then turning to Tsukune. "If you are going to make advances on me – be prepared."

It seemed that the girl's words both scared the boy and lifted his spirits somewhat.

Inner Moka then turned to Ulquiorra, who had come closer, assuming his usual position with hands in his pockets. The vampire sized him up and after a small pause spoke.

"You have a seal? I find it hard to believe, but… you showed great power without removing that ring. What kind of monster are you… a vampire? If so – I have never seen any of our kind use techniques you showed." She frowned, still looking at Ulquiorra, who frowned in turn slightly.

"I am not a vampire." He simply replied, showing that he was not interested in the conversation any longer.

Then everyone noticed a vicious glint in the vampire girl's eyes as she pressed on. "Then tell me who you are." her tone of voice suggested that a 'no' was not an answer she would be satisfied with. Kurumu and Tsukune moved back a bit, wondering what would happen now, because from their standpoint it seemed like a fight was going to break out.

Ulquiorra only sighed and vanished, reappearing on the highest point of the roof, above them. An unreadable expression on his face. "Very well." He uttered. "I shall show you my true form. Be prepared."

Ulquiorra then pulled out his right hand out of his pocket and raised it, pointing outwards with his fingers, much like he did with his zanpakuto before. His outstretched hand pointed at the group below. Then Moka instantly felt an increase in youki and saw a small distortion of the atmosphere around Ulquiorra's figure. The arrancar's mouth opened, a single phrase escaping his lips.

"Enclose, Murcielago."

And the area around him and the man himself exploded in a burst of pitch-black youki flowing upwards and sideways. Then the youki fell down much like a rain would, the black drops of pure dark aura each surrounded by a greenish outline. As everyone's shock subsided they looked up, gazing at the changed figure standing atop the roof.  
>Ulquiorra Cifer now stood taller, reverted to his previous visual age, his hair now longer and reaching down to his upper chest are in the front and to the middle of his torso on his back, much wilder and free in its appearance. On him body a nearly snow-white robe that fit his figure and reached down to his ankles. On his back a set of big, black bat wings. His tear-lines now became black in color, thicker and wider. The only thing missing was his white mask-helmet and his hollow hole, which would be impossible to see with his robe on. Then a wave of spiritual pressure hit the rooftop, making glass windows below shatter and forcing Inner Moka on her knees, Kurumu on the stomach and seemingly not affecting Tsukune as the others since he only cringed and his legs bent under him.<br>Ulquiorra looked down, watching Moka's reaction, who was surprised and somewhat scared, looking up at Ulquiorra's true form. Somehow the arrancar found it fitting to smirk a bit, since only he knew that this form of his was not his "true" form still. Once again he watched the people below him like a powerful god gazing at arrogant children. He lifted the pressure.

"My true form –_ S-Class_ _Black-Winged Great Demon__._" His voice, quiet yet powerful could be heard through the whole rooftop. "Are you satisfied now, or should I further show you what I am capable of. If you wish to test your strength against mine… I do not advise you to do so. I am far more skilled and much stronger than you. Accept it." His voice was surprisingly cold and emotionless, even more so than usual.

"A Demon? I've never heard of anything like you… this youki." Inner Moka questioned, wondering what kind of monster he was. Vampire were always thought to be the most powerful Youkai and lived worlds apart from any other monster species, preying on all others – the top of the food chain. But now… deep inside Akashiya Moka a thought appeared – a fear. Vampires may not have been the very top of the food chain and beings more powerful than them could be out there somewhere. It had always being said that a vampire's aura was darker than darkness, but the powerful aura this monster emitted, this demon, was even more dark – like the Void itself. On the outside, however, Moka's Inner and true self was blinded by her pride and reluctance to accept such a powerful being.  
>It did not escape Ulquiorra.<p>

"You wish me to prove myself further. So be it." the demon half-closed his eyes, as if not caring for a thing in the world. "Don't relax, be prepared, don't let your guard down for a second Akashiya Moka…" and he vanished…

… reappearing right in front of the vampire girl, grabbing her by the neck. The girl's eyes went wide and both her hands grabbed the limb that hel her, but even with her force she could not throw away Ulquiorra's hand. She then delivered a kick to his stomach. Ulquiorra took a step back, releasing the girl as he did. Much to everyone's surprise he was seemingly unharmed. He vanished again, appearing on the other side of the roof, where Gin fell down.

"That level of power is not enough to harm my body. Get serious or you will perish, vampire." Ulquiorra then raised his hand, creating a spear made out of green youki. His emotionless eyes met Moka's angry eyes and then he threw the lance at her. The vampire-girl jumped up, successfully evading the lance but as she blinked she found Ulquiorra already before her in mid-air, holding a new lance in his right hand. He swung it towards the girl and she thrust her hand to meet it.  
>A powerful explosion appeared in the sky above the roof and out of the smoke a female figure slammed into the roof, shattering the stones. Then the smoke instantly cleared, revealing the still airborne Ulquiorra clearing the last portions of the smoke away with the swings of his wings. Down on the ground Moka rose up revealing that her right hand was burned as she held it close to her body.<p>

"It seems you put more power to that attack. If not for that your arm would already be gone." Ulquiorra stated again in his cold, dark voice. "But you are still not at your full strength. It is pointless and futile to fight me not using all your power – it will only lead to your death."

"What the hell are you saying?" came a voice and both Ulquiorra and Moka turned to see Tsukune running up to the vampire girl. "You showed us enough – there's no need to keep fighting or you're going to really hurt Moka-san!"

The black demon kept looking downwards, the same lifeless eyes, the same stone-mask face.

"Nonsense." he answered. "If she cannot fight back and win – she might as well cease to exist. Once… and for all." He replied from above, slowly descending.

"What is wrong with you Ulquiorra-san? You can't do this!" the human yelled in response.

Ulquiorra only raised a brow. "Is that was you think? Foolish boy." He raised his hand and pointed a finger at them. "You, of all people, cannot protect her. Might controls everything… and without strength you cannot protect anything… let alone yourself." And the demon vanished yet again, appearing beside Moka, his arm drawn back for a strike and his fingers pressed firmly together. His hand flew forward at inhuman speed, leaving a blur in the air, aimed straight at the middle Tsukune's chest.  
>Before his fingers ripped a hole in the human's torso and a female hand gripped it, intercepting the attack, much to Ulquiorra's surprise. It was Moka who had caught his hand and now held it, an expression of rage, not anger, on her face. She quickly raised her leg and slammed it into Ulquiorra's side. A burst of red-purple youki flew out of Ulquiorra's other side and he was launched into the forest grounds, leaving only a trail of smoke as he landed somewhere between the trees.<p>

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Ulquiorra grunted and pushed himself of the ground and on his feet. That last attack of Moka's was powerful enough to harm his hierro and break a few of his ribs. The demon spit out some blood that had gathered in his mouth and decided to show the vampire girl what true despair was after beating her half to death.

A sudden rustle nearby alarmed him, but his pesquisa detected no one in the area. That was until a deep voice came out from the darkness to his right.

"My, you're such a troublemaker, Ulquiorra-kun." A dark figure covered in robes and a hood came out from the nearest tree. Funny thing was – Ulquiorra still could not feel the man with his pesquisa, which somewhat alarmed him.

"Who are you?" a green spear appeared in the demon's hand.

"No need to be alarmed. I'm here to help." And with those words the figure threw something at Ulquiorra with lightning-fast speed. A spell-seal attached itself on the raven-haired man and a white lighting enveloped his body. Only a loud grunt escaped his black lips and the arrancar fell down on the ground, back in his sealed state. The hooded man sighed. "I really do hope you are worth all this trouble my boy."

And with that the figure took Ulquiorra and headed back towards the Academy.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

The next morning Ulquiorra slowly opened his eyes as he woke up. His whole body ached and most of all – his head. He realized that his eyes were open… but it was pitch black where he was. That wasn't right – his eyes could see in total darkness as well as they did during the day. He tried moving his head and as he did he heard a voice.

"Hey, he's coming to." said a female voice.

"Wh-where?" asked the arrancar. He was somewhat stressed on the inside, failing to understand why he could see nothing when his eyes were surely opened – he even blinked a few times, to no avail.

"You're in the school infirmary, Ulquiorra-kun!" the voice came again, and now he was finally able to recognize it. It was none other than his classmate and friend – Moka Akashiya.

"What? What had happened… for me to end up here?" he asked with genuine interest, as much as his voice and manners of speech could give indication to it.

"You… got in an accident. I… my Inner Self somehow made you release your seal and… you…" the voice, clearly saddened and unsure trailed off, as if not sure how to continue. Then a new voice came in, it was Kurumu's.

"You went sorta berserk on us. You tried to kill Moka and Tsukune…" the voice said in a firm and serious tone. As Ulquiorra recalled everything prior to releasing Murcilago he understood that everything after that was a blank. He had no memories of anything beyond that. Before he could panic, somewhat, however – Kurumu continued, hastily. "… but it's okay! We forgave you already, it's alright. When we were directed here the next morning there was a note near your bed, on the counter. We know what happened and it wasn't your fault."

Ulquiorra's eyebrows rose in question. "I'm… not sure I follow."

"Here!" the voice said and the arrancar heard some rustling, probably from a paper. "This is the note." He felt something land in his open palm. A few seconds passed and the boy showed no reaction. Then he spoke.

"I can't read it… I can't see."

A loud group gasp followed, by which he understood that Tsukune was here too. Then the group began whispering among themselves, unaware that the raven-haired boy could clearly hear their words of worry for their comrade. They were thinking he had been blinded… and that may as well be the truth. Then the three came back and Kurumu said she would read the letter outloud. It was as followed.

"_Greetings, Ulquiorra-kun._

_I hope this does not come as a surprise too great for you to handle, but it seems that the seal on your powers is somewhat faulty. I am sorry, but I could not find out before the yesterday's incident, and could not have prevented it._

_No one is harmed, however, and only a few students have lost consciousness, while most experienced nightmares and horrible headaches from your impressive release of youki. I guess I'm not exactly helping here…_

_It is important that you do not release your power unless the circumstances are dire and such an action is unavoidable. I trust in your rational mind and I am sure you are not one to make hasty decision. In the meantime I shall search for a way to fix your ring.  
>Until we meet again, Ulquiorra-kun.<em>

_A concerned Well-Wisher."_

The arrancar could only stay silent as Kurumu finished reading the letter. His eye could not see, but he could practically feel the concern oozing out of the others as they watching him in silence. This was indeed a matter most unpleasant. Ulquiorra, however, had already formulated a plan of action.  
><em>'It's simple – I shall refrain from releasing Murcielago until I meet this mysterious Well-Wisher. I had no troubles dealing with problems at this Academy without the need to resort to my true powers. This shall not be a problem as dire as it seem to be.'<em> Ulquiorra thought, full of confidence the others lacked.

He proceeded to explain this to his friends. They all agreed. It was also a good turn of events that later during the day the arrancar's vision returned, meaning it had only been temporary, much to his own relief, and the relief of his friends.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Somewhere outside the Academy Grounds, in a place far away, isolated from the 'outside' a pair of dark silhouettes were biding their time in a dark room. One dark figure, the taller one, was sitting at a small round table, sipping a drink from a cup. The other one, shorter, was leanind down on a window, his gaze fixed on a full moon in the night sky above… however the weird part was that his face was not illuminated by the light of the said moon and the only light the room had was provided by a small candle standing on one of the edges of the table.  
>The figure at the table spoke first.<p>

"Are ya feelin' bored? Cravin' fer some action?" a voice full of playful mockery.

"Shut the f**k up! You damn well know I hate sittin' in this damn place, doing nothing!" a voice full of anger.

The taller one chuckled lightly, sipping whatever liquid he had in the cup afterwards. "Not ta worry – we're gonna be mobilized sooner than ya think, friend." somehow the voice held a degree of concern for the other one.

"Yeah-yeah, what-f**king-ever." retorted the shorter one, seemingly pacified.

Their time was yet to come.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx  
>xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx<p>

Today was a day like any other for the past few months. In fact… it was almost like any other day with a small exception that today the results of the midterm were posted. Yes indeed – today was the day of happiness for some and dread for others as monster in the Youkai Academy – namely the freshmen – were going to find out how well they had fared in their studies. The crowd in front of the board was almost like pure chaos itself – cries of pain and desperation were mixed with shouts of happiness and glee, along with the soft murmuring of those who didn't care or didn't fare too well, nor to bad.

A girl with bright pink hair and radiating beauty and cuteness was standing near the board, a small patch of free space around her, mostly because few boys would dare come close and not lose their senses or consciousness from being so close to one of the most beautiful girls in the whole of Youkai Academy. The girl was, of course, none other than Moka Akashiya – a vampire and heir of Shinso blood.

Her score? 13th place, which showed how smart she was out of the other 256 students.

Naturally, the boys around were shouting on about how she combined good looks and a sharp mind, which was an every boy's dream to date and fall in love with. Moka didn't seem to pay them much attention though for some unknown reason.  
>That was until a voice called out from the crowd, calling her by her name with a "-san" honorific added to it.<p>

The girl turned around and saw a pair of boys walking towards her. One was an all average boy with brown hair and eyes, showing a happy smile, waving to her. The other was a taller, much slender boy with black hair and emerald eyes; he simply nodded towards his female friend, showing a standard array of emotions… that is – close to none.

The average boy was Tsukune Aono, whose score was 128 – straight in the middle of the board. It had more so underlined his mediocre appearance, showing that he probably had nothing special inside his mind. He wasn't too smart, nor too dumb.

The dark-haired boy was Ulquiorra Cifer.

While his friends began talking with one another in their usual routine, Tsukune praising Moka and asking for her help, while the girl asked for some blood in return for that. Both of them then returned their gazes to the board, looking for Ulquiorra's score. He, himself, was looking through the names and scores from bottom to top. He stopped when he heard Moka gasp in surprise or awe – he couldn't clearly say.  
>The girl jumped up to the arrancar boy and pointed somewhere above, at the board, exclaiming.<p>

"Look, there it is!"

And then the three of them saw it. Ulquiorra Cifer – 3rd place.

While Tsukune and Moka stared at their friend with awe and amusement the boy himself had felt something… ominous. It made him tug slightly at the opened up collar of his shirt, which he wore open at the top, and look around searching for the source of this sudden feeling of dread. Quite soon he had found a group of girls nearby, all with their hands locked together in the area of their chests and their eyes containing hearts instead of irises and pupils. Most important of all – the whole group was staring at him.  
>He had spent enough time at the Academy to be able to identify a potentially problematic presence of the "Ulquiorra Fan Club" and it's members. He already had a few incidents with the lot, during which he was nearly forced out of his clothes. The poor naïve male did not understand their evil intentions in the beginning, but now it was more than clear. <em>'What causes them to act this way? Is this some weird sort of worship or infatuation? I must flee at any rate…'<em> he decided, quickly proceeding to get away from here, trying to disappear into the crowd, leaving his friends alone and surprised at his actions.

From a place not too far away a small girl was watching the three, clothed in a weird outfit that practically said "WITCH HERE!". She had a cape and a pointy hat. Unknown to many it was Yukari Sendo – the person who had scored 1st place in the midterm, being 11 years old. She was just about to get into problems with her class representative…

Meanwhile Ulquiorra had finally managed to shake off the fan-club hounds and got out of the crowd in the opposite direction of where they went, and, basically, in the same place where he had jumped into the crowd, just a bit farther from the board of results. What appeared before his ever-focused eyes was a scene of pure good old bullying in its first stage. A group of males were terrorizing a clearly much smaller female, who looked like a child. Actually she was one as far as the raven-haired boy could tell.

Without waisting any more time Ulquiorra suddenly appeared between the child and the larger males. He simply stood there as the guy in charge was almost ready to attack the poor girl, but the former had stopped when his eyes met the emerald gaze of the newcomer. He instantly recognized a threat and backed up, unsure what to do. A few comments sounded from within the crowd of students.

"Hey – that's Ulquiorra Cifer."  
>"He came to stop those guys from bullying the girl!"<br>"He's cool!"

Judging wisely the group of troublemakers withdrew, leaving Ulquiorra and Yukai alone. They weren't that scared of the arrancar, but much more wary of the crowd of spectators that were watching.  
>The raven-haired boy then turned around, looking at the person he just protected in a gesture so unlike his old self. He had noticed earlier that she had somehow used a stone nearby to hit the leader of that group on the back of the head. All indication was that she was a Witch – a monster, but not a monster as well. A borderline being of some sort as far as Ulquiorra knew. Once again he thanked the knowledge about the monsters the bus driver had given him back in the day when he rode the otherworldly bus for what seemed like months.<p>

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

The four were sitting at one of the tables outside the cafeteria. Moka, Tsukune, Ulquiorra and Yukari had just gotten here and the first thing that the small witch had said was.

"Oh, thank you sooo much for saving me! My name is Yukari Sendo!" the girl showed a bright smile.

"I heard that even though you're in the same grade as us, you're only 11? And even ranked 1st?" Tsukune asked, somewhat still surprised.

"You're really smart aren't you?" Moka asked. "And that outfit is also really cool!"

"You are indeed a genius." Was all Ulquiorra had said, not asking anything.

The girl seemed flustered and began stuttering and trying to find her way with words. However after a few seconds when she stopped panicking there seemed a determined look on her face has appeared. The girl was blushing, but she was able to talk nonetheless.

"You're the one who's cool and sweet, but… you know… I actually… I… " she made a small pause, as if gathering courage, which she probably did, from where Ulquiora was standing. And then the girl jumped towards the group, exclaiming. "I wuvvv you, Ulquiorra-san!" and she latched onto the unsuspecting male with both her hands around his neck.  
>Both Moka and Tsukune shouted a single 'Eeehh?' of shock and surprise yet again this day, while their black-haired friend was frozen in place, stiff and unmoving like a statue. Only his eyes looked downwards and on the girl who was right on his chest. While everyone went into shock she proceeded to explain her actions.<p>

"Actually it started with me admiring Moka-san, watching her in that classroom on the other side of the hall, but then I noticed Ulquiorra-san and how cool and mysterious he was, not to mention how smart! Every time I started to fall in love with you a bit more… and when you saved me today my heart was made up!" she looked up at him with those big, pleading eyes that could make a stone grow to like her. "Please go out with me!" she added, watching the still and unsure look that Ulquiorra had. He was too surprised to actually mind his expression right now. Seeing this the little girl added. "Is that so bad – dating someone like me?"

"I… hmm…" was all the pale boy could manage to get out of his mouth. He finally composed himself and gave it thought. It was the first time someone actually asked him that face-to-face and he was absolutely not sure what to do or say. _'She said her heart was made up… I think… she might be very saddened if I decline… perhaps I should play along for now and see what comes out of it all. Nothing problematic should happen, right?'_ Ulquiorra briefly wondered why had his last thought sounded so unsure, but decided not to dwell on it. Instead he found his voice.

"As you wish. I shall date you, Yukari-san." He had figured it would make her uneasy if he had called her by her last name after agreeing to the dating rituals.

"Yaaaaay! I'M SO HAPPY!" the small girl was ecstatic, doing a victory dance just after leaping off of Ulquiorra.

"Wait-what?" Tsukune nearly fell down after hearing the words of his friend, added by "Eh?" from Moka, who was as surprised as Tsukune.

Ulquiorra quietly sighed.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Ulquiorra had a hard time moving, seeing as there was a small 11 year old girl latched onto his waist, holding it in a death-clutch that he had never suspected she was capable of having. Yukari's legs didn't even reach the floor as she hung down from her boyfriend's frame. Tsukune and Moka walked nearby, wondering how their friend could manage keeping such a passive and cool attitude that he always had. Indeed – on the outside he was the same as always, while on the inside he was actually just a bit distressed, mainly because he had a difficulty moving, paying no mind to the closeness that he and his new childish girlfriend had.

"Wow, you have such strong and firm muscles! You're really stronger than you look!" the girl smiled, her eyes locked on Ulquiorra's pale features.

"Hmm… thank you…" Ulquiorra responded, only to play his part and not make the girl sad. This earned a loud cheer from the girl and she squeezed harder, making Ulquiorra almost lose his balance.

"What are you guys doing?" came the voice of Tsukune.

Ulquiorra turned around, somehow managing to place the small witch on the ground near him. Tsukune could swear he saw a pleading glint in the demon's green eyes as he cast a glance at him and Moka. Yukari on the other hand began to assault Tsukune verbally. Oh no – no insults were involved, but she had underlined that the boy was totally mediocre, ridiculing him in a way… even if it was the truth.

"I love Ulquiorra-san… so I don't want my awesome Ulquiorra-san to be brought down into the dirt by someone like you. His friendship with you will only make it worse for him and I don't want that! While Moka-san is okay…" the girl proceeded to pull out a magic wand from inside her cape. "… I declare war on **you**! Magic Wand!" she happily exclaimed, making the small rob emit a bit of light. "I'll make sure you never come close to Ulquiorra-san again!"

And then the human boy was assaulted by a number of brooms and such, which had come to life due to Yukari's magical abilities. They began beating the poor guy without fail, no matter how hard he tried to get away. Moka and Ulquiorra could only observe this happen, but both could do nothing, since Yukari was not doing anything really dangerous and she was too cute and innocent to fight or some such.  
><em>'This is beginning to bring more trouble than I thought it would…'<em> Ulquiorra sighed again.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Later the next day Ulquiorra had walked into the Newspaper Club to resume their activities, arriving to his destination along with Moka-san only to witness a certain Tsukune on a perverted rampage. The latter had groped Kurumu and flipped up her skirt. The girl didn't seem to be very angry, if the smile on her face was any indication… _'I wonder if the inner side of the human finally took control and he became his usual lustful self – a monster who would attack women and grope them here and there.'_

. . . . . . .

'_Not likely, if anything I know about Tsukune is true than it's highly impossible for him to be like this. An outside influence? I think he's screaming that he's not in control of his own body…'_

And lo and behold – a certain 11 year old Witch couldn't contain her amusement and had been discovered just beyond the window with a magical voodoo doll in her hands. The culprit was found and the case solved. Tsukune was pissed though – royally pissed and it was perhaps the first time he ever was that angry with someone. It only showed that the human boy had a limit to his patience as they all did.  
>Ulquiorra finally slipped out of his thoughts and concentrated on Tsukune before him, noticing that Yukari was behind himself, covering herself with her boyfriend's jacket, tugging on it slightly.<p>

"… you're too easy on her Ulquiorra-san! You've got to tell her she's being a bother to all of us! I mean – it's better for both us and Yukari-chan's sake as well, right?" he asked frantically, looking at his pale friend for support.

"Well… I…" Ulquiorra trailed off, not sure how to agree with the human in a way that would not upset Yukari. However he was too late, as Tsukune continued.

"If Yukari-chan hangs out with just you, Ulquiorra-san – then won't she lose all her friends and end up totally alone?"

Ulquiorra looked down at the witch, only to see her hide her face and respond in a quiet tone of voice.

"I don't mind… after all, I'm a genius! I don't want such low-ability friends. Besides… I… I've always-always been alone." She looked to her side, making everyone go silent and feel pity for the girl. Ulquiorra continued to stare at her. Maybe the others were none the wiser but the raven-haired man knew that she was telling the truth and that she hid something down beneath those sad eyes.  
>As Tsukune moved in closer to console the girl and apologize he was struck by a basin falling down on his head. The girl was pleased to have played a prank on the boy, but before anyone could do anything the little Witch dashed away at amazing speeds. Only Ulquiorra's gaze followed her without breaking away…<p>

Moka berated Tsukune for what he had said, and as soon as both turned to see what Ulquiorra had to say about it they saw that he was gone – left without a trace.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Ulquiorra had followed Yukari's youki, using his superb Pesquisa, and soon enough arrived at the sight of a few monsters harassing the poor girl. They were lizardmen and seemed to be the same monsters that were trying to bully her earlier. Without much thought and pause Ulquiorra used a sonido to appear near one of them, intently watching the leader and Yukari. Without so much as looking to his side he made a swift motion with his left hand, backhanding one of the lizardmen, creating a loud punching sound and sending the man off into the distance as a result.

"What? You!" was the only thing the pitiful creatures could say before Ulquiorra resumed the fighting.

It was even easier than with Saizou – all the arrancar had to do was deliver kicks and punches to his enemies, breaking bones and spluttering blood all over the small clearing, sending the feeble opponents left and right. A minute or a bit more and all of them were lying face-down on the ground and did not move… Ulquiorra did not have to resort to releasing his youki or using youki pressure to achieve victory.

"But… but why?" Yukari asked, wondering why he had come to save her.

Ulquiorra gave her a long, serious stare before he began speaking. "Yukari… I could perfectly tell that you had indeed been alone for the most of your life. Being alone is something none of us truly wants, and I was once as alone as you were. In fact I wanted nothing to do with anyone – I was cold and merciless, paying no mind to anyone who stood in my way, be that friend or foe. I was… empty." He let the slight feeling of sadness overtake his features for a brief moment and then continued, back to how he looked at her before. "Being alone and empty is not something I would want you to experience. Cherish those close to you and make friends with others. You shall see that it is for the better."

He showed a small smile – a small one but a genuine one nonetheless.

He could hear the others running here and shouting something from a distance. Surely Tsukune and the others would make her see what Ulquiorra meant as well, and perhaps better than he could say it…  
>They would become friends – he just knew it.<p>

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Moka and Kurumu were walking down one of the halls while talking.

"Yukari-chan really has changed into a good girl! I heard she apologized in front of her whole class for playing pranks all the time." Kurumu said, looking content.

"Tha's great!" Moka smiled in return. "Yukari-chan is really growing up!"

As the two girls walked into their clubroom they beheld a peculiar sight. Tsukune was standing in the corner, looking somewhat scared and observed as the clubroom's table fell down after Yukari jumped onto Ulquiorra, exclaiming that she "Wuvvved him!" while the latter was as neutral-looking as ever.

"YUKARI-CHAN?" both the girls shouted in unison.

The witch turned towards them and smiled, holding her hands up in the air at her shoulder-level. "Oh, good afternoon! I was just admitted into the newspaper club today! Please help me with everything, okaaay!" the girl then proceeded to chase Ulquiorra, who finally decided that he did not require any more hugs, while the others watched the scene before them. The funniest thing was the sight of slight distress on the pale man's face, adorned with two tear marks going down from his eyes and to his chin. They weren't real… but they sure made him look like he was troubled. Yukari continued in the meantime. "I was in love with Ulquiorra-san before, and now I'll make him like me too!"

She chased him down the hall.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

The next day Kurumu was sitting down in her classroom looking bored and awaiting for the first lesson to begin. It was early in the morning and she was still a bit sleepy from all that's happened yesterday. Then the teacher came in and smiled at the class, starting off with an unexpected speech.

"Okay class – we have an unexpected addition to our class today. Something like a transfer student, but more like a late entry. Be sure to get along with him, okay? You can come in now!" Kurumu shifted her attention to the opening door.

A male student walked into the classroom. He was fairly tall, but not too much, he had a muscular build that even his Youkai Academy uniform could not hide. His outfit, by the way, was almost a violation of the school dress code – he wore his green jacket open showing his white shirt, which was opened up almost to the middle. His sleeves were upturned and pulled upwards, so they ended up on his biceps, just above the elbows. The collar of his shirt was also upturned and showed from beneath the jacket. He was rather handsome in appearance and had light-blue eyes, and had weird green eye-markings just below the said eyes. Also what surprised Kurumu most of all was that the new student's hair was the same color of blue as her own, only spiky and ruffled in style.  
>The boy raised his right arm and greeted the classroom.<p>

"Yo, the name's Grimmjow Jaggerjack – nice to meet ya!" the boy grinned wide.

END OF CHAPTER 3

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** *squeals loud* Holy shit - and the chapter is done. Wanna know how many words there are? Well... 11,192 words in this one. Hehehe. I still got it.  
>Anywho - the part where Ulquiorra goes berserk had to be done for a few reasons. One - add to the tension, Two - add a bit of drama(again), Three - I just wanted him to use it, and Four - this was also done to limit Ulquiorra. I wouldn't bee cool if he could just go Murcilago on everyone's asses, so here's something like an additional limiter - sure he can remove the seal on his own, but now he'll hafta be REALLY careful and thoughtful about doing so at a risk of putting his friends in danger.<br>ALSO - Yukari has the hots for Ulquiorra now. I figured she'd be the type to like him - dunno why... mostly cuz he's that smart, I guess. This is as close as it'll get to a harem...

Didn't expect Grimmjow, huh? HUH?  
>Oh by the way... cookies to anyone who recognized two lines from DMC3 in this chapter that I used. XD *someone throws a brick at his head, knocking Grimm unconscious*<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:**

Woooo, this story is on DA ROLL! I seriously love you guys for supporting me and giving me the encouraging comments and reviews, even though I never once asked for them in any of the chapters. Didja notice? I'm one of the few people who don't say "Review please! I need reviews!" – BUT it's not like I don't like them – in fact they do lift my mood greatly, and it's all thanks to you guys.  
>… well aside the few of those who didn't help…<p>

OKAY! Thanks you guys again! And onto dem Q's and A's! So here goes:

**NoctaLightx** – DUDE! I seriously love ya. Not in a gay way or anything, lawl. But reading your comments skyrockets my good mood. *happy smile* Anywho – Grimmjow does know how to rile Ulq up, hehe, and it's gonna be fun writing out their interactions. But… what kind of "peer pressure" are you talking about?  
>If you mean the commentsreviews where those guys ask me to do this or that, or tell me how to write MY fic… well I don't mind them much, unless there are reasons and good ones given as to why. Oh and since we are going into that direction…

**EVA-Saiyajin** – okay… not to sound rude or anything, but you trying to make your point across the way you do is useless. I find it rather funny how your comments start with the lines of small praise and then there are followed by the same words "… but there's no way…" without giving much explanation as to "why". Hmm… well to clear up your comment on chapter 2:  
>1st – sure there was awe when they saw Ulq cero the pool, but it's not like they were gonna faint or jizz their pantspanties over it. Besides Moka has seen stuff. She's a vampire…  
>2nd – Ulquiorra could beat Kurumu without his zanpakuto, sure. He did actually. He drew it to finish her off and she defended, and quite successfully. Yay for Kurumu.<br>As for the comment on the chapter 3:  
>1st – Gin is fast as Ulquiorra, no – FASTER during the full moon. There's one good reason for it… I made Ulquiorra weaker. Yep… there it is – I can already hear the people ranting, but I did. If I kept him at his level of power from the Bleach-verse… well… he could pwn everyone and everything without even breaking a sweat and with no need to release Murcielago. Not fun, so I toned his power down to R+V universe standards. He still kicks ass too.<br>2nd – about Moka and fights, hmm… I'm not too sure. I am going to follow the cannon for now. I think that each time Inner Moka is released is very important too, so making all the important fights without her would be wrong. It was due to this that Inner Moka became fond of Tsukune and somewhat familiar with the others in the group, so… yeah. However there will be fights without Moka.  
>I also find it weird that you say "keep up the good work" even though you state that so many points about my fic are wrong… this is just confusing me, seriously. I'm nothing but confused, so I wasn't being rude…<p>

**Kel'thuzad The Summoner** – Oh yeah, shit is about to get REAL, as you said. And thanks for saying the word "epic" – cuz I've been to your profile and that means really high praise from you. Thank you!

**Fate fan** – Well, you see… I'm not too keen on making an Arrancar OC for Ulq. Where/how would she come from? Nop – this is strictly cannon, with only the addition of a few OC's to the R+V-verse. On the other point – Yukari DOES love Ulquiorra, or at least feels that way and there's no way around da loooove, lmao.  
>And finally – Grimmjow and Ulquiorra are NOT in the same class. Kurumu and Yukari are in separate classes from Tsukune, Moka and Ulquiorra. Grimmjow is in Kurumu's class – not in Ulq's.<p>

**Hypothetical Spiritual Entity** – YES! You guessed the line right, but the other one is just before that. "Is that what you think? Foolish boy." Is a slightly changed line from DMC. When Lady finds Vergil and Dante fighting in the Lair of Judgment she attacks Vergil and says: "You forced him[Arkham] into this!" to which Vergil replies: "Is that what you think? Foolish girl." So yeah. There ya have it.  
>You are hereby awarded with a virtual cookie of awesome! Hope it tastes well…<p>

**GFS** – You are hereby awarder with a completely virtual, imaginable, yet tastiest cookie of pure awesomeness ever created! You are da man! Hope ya enjoy da cookie.

**S. Knightshade** – Aw, you're too kind. To be honest I can't really tell if this or that situation is funny or awesome or cool most of the time, since I'm the one who's writing it, so I'm hoping (and relying) on you all guys to tell me if it's good or not.  
>On a side-note… this may be a bit disappointing, but I decided not to do that thing with Ulquiorra helping Tsukune that we talked about. I won't be able to incorporate it into the story well, trust me – I tried it a few ways in my head, but it just seems too "artificial" and wrong to me. Sorry.<br>Damn you college! I really can't wait till you update your story, my man. I'm not telling you to hurry up (like some annoying people can) but I do wait for it with great anticipation.  
>… and you get a cookie too.<p>

**Coreldecortavar** – Heh, thanks for the praise! I'm really happy you don't find nothing wrong with the fic – it means a lot to me when you guys say that. And worry not – it didn't take (too) long for this chappy to come out. *grins*

**Page-Mistress** – Is Grimmjow gonna get a girlfriend, huh? Heh… heheheh… oh you'll see… GYEAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Once again – thanks to everyone else who reviewed and faved!

* * *

><p>xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx<p>

"**Hollow to Vampire – Chapter 4"**

Ulquiorra Cifer watched the scene before his eyes, namely the beginning of their club activities. It had been a few months of attendance in the Youkai Academy already, and there seemed to be little improvement in the overall relationship of everyone in the small yet growing group of friends. Right now Ulquiorra was standing near his usual seat, Yukari Sendo attached to his waist as usual, cheering and telling him that she would make him love her as well, meaning that she wanted to make him feel the same way how she felt about him. Ulquiorra was his usual self. Not too far away from him – their club president – Ginei Morioka was telling Moka Akashiya that he loved her and wanted them to go out on a date or two. Kurumu Kurono was clinging to Tsukune Aono, telling him pretty much the same.  
>For better or for worse Yukari momentarily let go of Ulquiorra and made a few house appliances fall on the heads of Kurumu and Gin.<p>

"I won't let you guys harass my friends like that! I'll fight you with my Magic!" she declared happily, not forgetting to mention that she 'wuvved Ulquiorra, of course.' It was evident that from the very start Yukari and Kurumu became something akin to rivals, mainly on the topic and understanding of personal physical beauty. Yukari was all for being flat-chested and Kurumu pointed out that having big and soft breasts was better. Ulquiorra actively tried to avoid being near the girls when such argument broke out, as they both tried to ask Ulquiorra's opinion, explaining that his logical thought would be the deciding factor… while the pale boy never gave them his opinion on such a thing… for a few reasons.

However while the others were consumed by communicating and bickering, with could be commonly and simply said as "hanging out", Ulquiorra on the other hand was rather troubled. He had no idea as to why, but he had a feeling of trouble coming his way… whatever it was, and while not shunning the feeling, he was highly distrusting of it. After all – he was a fan of logical thought and not some weird feeling that could be simple bad whether… if not for the fact that weather was cloudy here all the time.

A few hours later when their club was over and everyone went about their business, Ulquiorra headed towards the boys side of the dorm along with Tsukune. He walked by the human boy's right side, his usual style of attire on him and his hand in the pocket of his pants, while the other held his school bag over his shoulder. It was one of those rare moments he would speak first.

"Tsukune-san, if I remember correctly your birthday is but six days away." He looked at the boy. "Is that right?"

"Yeah…" Tsukune answered. "… and I haven't invited everyone I wanted to. I still got to invite Moka-san."

"Hmm, perhaps you should do so today. You should wait for her here and invite her. I shall go on to my apartment." Ulquiorra proposed in his usual serious yet impassive voice, however his eyes hinted at importance.

Tsukune nodded surely in response, telling Ulquiorra to take care of himself. The arrancar showed a shadow of a smile and headed for his destination, leaving Tsukune alone, waiting on the main road for the girl he was almost obsessed with. He even looked back after walking away a bit, noticing that Moka didn't take long to follow and that the two teenagers were conversing.  
>… and still that unknown unpleasant feeling was nagging him in the back of his head.<p>

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

The next day Kurumu was sitting at her own desk in class, waiting for their lessons to end and the club to begin. She had a few plates of cookies made for Tsukune, and with them she would surely win the boy's attention. The only thing that made her break away from her thoughts about Tsukune was the new boy – Grimmjow Jaggerjack. He was sitting in the row to her right, two seats behind, so the girl had no trouble taking a few sneak glances at him.  
>It had been a few weeks since the blue-haired boy joined their class and she had a grasp on his personality already. The boy was rather rude, in class – using no honorifics or showing no mind to authority until he had no other choice, often coercing the teachers into rough measures about his persona. Out of class he was almost a jackass – he had no problem swearing and quite profusely at that, badmouthing anyone and anything he didn't like. He also got into a few fights already and rumor had it he nearly killed a few other delinquents… since he was a delinquent in the eyes of other by now.<p>

However he was not without good points, surprisingly enough, as Kurumu recalled a week back. It was just after classes and the girl was heading off to her club…

_xFlashbackx_

_Kurumu was merrily on her way, thinking up a new scheme of her daily plans to capture Tsukune's attention. She saw a person before her, or rather his broad back, which made her snap out of her thoughts, before she could hit it. By the peculiar hair-color the succubus could identify that it was Grimmjow – her classmate. He was walking in his usual manner with his backpack over his right shoulder and his hands in the pockets of his pants, while slouching forward a bit. A permanent scowl on his face, or a simple expression of bored indifference in its place. At first glance he was a laid-back kind of guy, but upon closer inspection he turned out to be quite easy to agitate into rash actions._

_Anyway – it was then she had noticed a group of two boys heading her way, mostly due to the fact that when she stopped and Grimmjow kept going further, one of the guys bumped shoulders with the blue-haired monster. Was it on purpose or not was unknown, but while the two paid no attention to it, Grimmjow did alright, turning around with a dangerous glint in his eyes._

_The duo, who had the mediocre visage of delinquents, stopped near Kurumu who was not too far away and initiated a conversation of sorts._

"_Hey babe, how about you and me go and have some fun?" one of them said… or it was something along those lines anyway, since Kurumu forgot what exactly they had said not too long afterwards._

_Her weak protests, however, were quickly stopped when one of the guys grabbed her hand, trying to get his point across. Something along the lines of "Come along or we'll hurt ya bad." or the like were next. However the group heard a voice coming from behind the guy's backs._

"_Oi, shithead – ya bumped into my shoulder."_

_The guys looked back, while Kurumu simply looked over their shoulders. What they saw a scowling face of Grimmjow, his backpack on the floor near him and his hands still, or once again, in the pockets of his black pants. Only his eyes had a silent warning in them that promised nothing good for the pair. One of them had the mistake of saying..._

"_Yeah-yeah, whatever – can't ya see we're having a moment here?"_

_At this Grimmjow only raised his head a bit, assuming an expression that clearly said he was looking down at them, his scowl deepening._

"_Oh you're about to have a moment all right, f**ker!" he said, his scowl instantly turning into a grin._

_And in a matter of a second he moved. With a single and fast movement Grimmjow was between the two guys, his fist flying upwards straight into the middle of the elbow of the hand that held Kurumu. With a loud snap and a howl of pain the boy's hand bent upwards, broken and bleeding, skin tearing where the broken, sharp edges of the elbow bone split the skin, slicing through it, causing additional pain.  
>The other guy threw a punch of his own, only to be blocked by Grimmjow's other hand, as he did so seemingly not even looking in the direction of the guy who tried to punch him. Then the arrancar proceeded to twist the hand he held in his own, making the second ruffian scream and delivered a powerful kick right in the back of the guy's head, not turning around.<em>

_Both boys were on the floor, one out cold and the other screaming in pain so loud that it was almost unbearable. The shocked Kurumu could only watch the blue-haired boy dusk off his pants, as if nothing had happened. His features were back to a dissatisfied scowl. She finally found the strength to speak._

"_T-th- Thank you." She managed to get out._

_He looked at her. "Tch… don't be mistaken here. I didn't do it for ya – they bumped into my shoulder and didn't apologize – is all." He almost sneered at her, surprising the girl. "Don't get any weird ideas, jugs." was all he added before the teachers had arrived and took him away, along with his bag he had almost forgotten, leaving the fuming and embarrassed girl alone in the hallway._

_xFlashbackx_

Back then she thought that he indeed did it because they bumped into him, but the more she thought about it – the more she convinced herself that it wasn't the case. Why would he injure them so much for a simple body collision? It didn't make sense to her, so she decided it was his way to maintain his… style… or something.  
>Although she had no actual way to determine if it was really the way she thought it was. The only way to confirm her suspicions was to confront him directly, and that would mean that she would have to talk to him about it, or talk to him at all.<p>

When the class was over she saw the boy exit the class, taking one of the routes towards the cafeteria, seeing as it was time for lunch. The blue-haired girl followed him maintaining distance and keeping behind something so not to alarm her target of her presence.  
>In the cafeteria itself she grabbed her usual lunch that she preferred and looked around, trying to find Grimmjow. She found him soon enough, sitting outside all alone and munching on his food while seemingly deep in thought and bored. He always looked like he was bored and uninterested, but indeed, as she noted before there was something else under that guise – something brutal and feral. Overall he also gave off a peculiar vibe… dare she call it a "bad boy" vibe?<p>

So without wasting much time she sat down opposite of Grimmjow, somewhat surprising him when she plopped down in her seat. He stopped chewing the piece of bread he had in his mouth and regarded her with a half-surprised, half-annoyed look on his face. She only smiled sweetly at him. A few moments passed in utter silence and the boy finally gulped down his bread.

"You… what do you think you're doing?" he asked, somewhat threateningly.

"Me? Nothing much – just keeping you company for lunch." she replied with the same smile.

"Well nobody asked ya to keep me company." He spat back, digging around in his mashed potatoes with his spoon. "So you can scram."

"Hey – that's no way to talk to a girl!" she responded, a bit angered by his attitude.

"I talk any way I want to, jugs, and nobody's the boss of me." He raised his head in defiance.

"Okay." She tried a new approach, surprising the man a bit, seeing as an expression of confusion overtook his face.

"Huh? Okay? What the hell you mean?" he asked in a rude tone of voice.

"I'm not the boss of you, so I can't tell you how to talk to others, but what makes you think I'm worse than you, calling me that way?" she asked, crossing her arms below her impressive boobs.

Grimmjow took a few seconds to reply, watching her intently. "Tch – whatever, fine!" he leaned back on his chair, crossing his arms on his chest as well. "What should I call ya then?"

"Kurumu. Or Kurumu-chan." She smiled happily, out of the blue. Grimmjow was once again confused.

"How 'bout I call you 'woman'?" he sneered sarcastically.

"No way! I'll call you Grimmjow or Grimmjow-kun, so call me by my name too! It's only fair – no?" she asked him, assuming a serious demeanor.

"Jeez – fine. Kurumu." He concluded, deciding not to use any kind of suffixes, since he never used them before and never would start doing so.

The girl leaned forwards to the table and started eating her food, reminding Grimmjow that his own food would get cold by this action, so the both of them started eating, keeping silent. Kurumu, however, could feel and see that during all this time Grimmjow kept glaring at her but she was not sure if it was irritation or something else. He had one of those unreadable glares some people had on his face right now and she could only guess what he was thinking… probably something to do with her.  
>So after a few minutes when they were done with the food, silence ensued. Grimmjow once again leaned back on his chair, arms crossed. The Succubus decided to break the ice once again, as the boy seemed reluctant to converse… which was kind of cute in a way.<p>

"So… don't you have any friends that you eat with during lunch?" she asked curiously.

"Pfft – I don't need nothing like that. I got no wish to sit around eating with some shitheads." He responded.

"So you're all alone up till now?"

"Wait-wait… is this the part when ya say you wanna be friends with me?" he leaned forward, placing one hand on the table, glaring at her harder. "I hate to break it to ya, but my answer is 'no'! And now that we had lunch you can scram."

The girl only looked at him, with uncertainty in her eyes. This agitated Grimmjow even further.

"Are you f**king looking down on me? Ya think I need some 'friends' to go around? Don't make me laugh – I don't need your f**king pity!" he raised his voice, attracting a bit of attention to their table. People already knew him and his reputation and seeing Kurumu by the same table made them think the guy was picking on the poor girl.  
>The blue-haired girl took a few seconds to think this through and finally answered, trying to use all her diplomatic skills to aid her.<p>

"No – I'm not underestimating you, nothing of the sort. I just… thought you should be lonely like this, without any friends. Don't you want any at all?" she asked him.

"Tch… this talk is making me wanna hurl. Whatever." and without wasting any time the boy got up, picking up his stuff and walked away not giving Kurumu a chance to speak to him further.

She could only watch him go.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Ulquiorra was sitting at his desk in class, paying attention to what the teacher was saying. It was the Art class right now. He had found the teacher to be somewhat eccentric, seeing as she was dressed very differently from the dress-code rules, however, some teachers were also that way. For example – Kotsubo-sensei who was wearing rather casual clothes all the time. Not that Ulquiorra had any problems with that – he just found it weird. Well – the Art teacher was definitely at the top of the most 'artistic' outfits he had seen in his time before, if you don't count a certain individual from Barragan's Fraccion. The arrancar slightly shuddered at the memory of the horrible monstrosity that called itself 'beautiful' of all things possible to be called.  
>The boy shook his head and shifted his attention back to class.<p>

"…ctures continuing with last week's theme of 'what's important to you'." The teacher said, and although Ulquiorra heard only half of it or so, it wasn't too hard to understand, really. "And just what is important to you is the art in each and every one of your hearts." She continued, placing her hand to her heart. "Feel free to paint whatever you want."

The arrancar leaned back on his seat, wondering what he wanted to paint. _'It should be something I care for, something that is important to me.'_ He thought, looking around the classroom to see Tsukune and Moka. The human boy was looking at the pink-haired girl, while the latter was concentrated on painting something in her album. The raven-haired boy shook his head. _'No… I should not paint them. It has to be something else… something close to my… heart.'_ He concluded.

Missing the fact that some other girl had come to class to hang out with their sensei, Ulquiorra concentrated on the task at hand. He took the brush in his hand and pressed it to the clean sheet of paper, making shapes with it. There was no paint on the brush, so nothing could be painted this way, however it would help the boy to draw a shape in his mind. Not a minute had passed and Ulquiorra had decided what he wanted to paint. He used only two colors – black and green.  
>After their time was up Ishigami-sensei had asked if anyone was done, or should there be another lesson on this. Many said they were finished, and many said they were not, so the teacher just went and checked the completed works. When she came over to Ulquiorra the woman tilted her heard, watching the thing drawn on the album of her pupil. Both she and Ulquiorra locked their eyes on a rather big and crudely drawn bat – it was mostly black, with a faint green outline, a pair of green eyes and a green heart in the middle. Ishigami-sensei raised her brows, glancing at Ulquiorra, who had a shadow of a smile on his face, almost impossible to notice.<p>

"Umm… good… and nice. I can definitely see inspiration here, but the painting could use some more work." The teacher said, giving her praise in an unsure voice. Ulquiorra only nodded, now serious.  
>He had decided that he would work on painting Murcielago until he would be perfect, even if he had to do it a thousand times over.<p>

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Later on, the day before Tsukune's birthday, after another usual day, Ulquiorra and the others went separate ways, as the arrancar had heard that Moka was going to Ishigami-sensei's additional lessons. Tsukune was still trying to invite the girl or so it seemed. The raven-haired boy could only guess why he hasn't managed to do so during all this time.  
>He sat at his usual place in their Clubroom, watching Ginei Morioka, their club president, talk about another disappearance. As they had found out not too long before – girls started disappearing all over school with no trace to follow. Ulquiorra's pesquisa was useless in this endeavor and he could only do so much as the others could – investigate. So right now he was watching Yukari's divination, which he was performing with a crystal ball – just like in all those stories about the Witches. His and Yukari's desks were put together by the said girl and Kurumu was sitting at her own desk from to the other side of the witch girl and watched intently as well.<p>

"That's weird…" finally said Yukari, keeping her hands around the crystal ball. "…there's a bad aura enveloping Moka-san and Tsukune-san!"

Ulquiorra leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms on his chest, wondering if this was true, while Yukari continued to explain what she was doing to Kurumu and telling the girl that her divinations were always right. The pale boy wondered if this was the reason for this feeling of danger and dread he was getting all these days. It had started a while ago and only grew stronger and more restless, to the point where the boy had trouble sleeping – in fact he had to force himself to sleep the last two days, as he had felt the danger was very close.  
>And just then Tsukune entered, looking rather depressed and worn out, as if he was running all the way here. Gin-sempai had shown Tsukune the last and eighth disappearance and noted that the boy was late for club, while Moka had a good reason to skip it right now.<p>

"Moka-san!" Tsukune exclaimed and immediately ran away, confusing everyone present. Kurumu and Yukari decided to run after him while Gin and Ulquiorra stayed in the clubroom. Gin looked a bit disappointed.

"Well – with the two of us there's no point in doing anything right now, so I guess we can postpone this till tomorrow or something." Gin sighed, adding a quiet. "All the cute girls always run away." making Ulquiorra sigh slightly.

And since the club activities were over, Ulquiorra decided to go for a walk around the academy grounds. He had chosen his favourite route near the woods, away from all the populated areas and simply walked, his hands in his pockets and his bag already in his room on the bed. It was then that the boy felt the familiar feeling of danger wash over him with so much force that he almost stopped breathing. A sound of ruffled leaves came from behind him as someone stopped not too far away from his current location.

"Yo, comrade!" came a voice from behind. It sounded strangely familiar, making Ulquiorra turn around.

His emerald eyes fell upon a broad and muscular form of a boy wearing the same school uniform he was, which was unsurprising. The boy wore his jacket open and his sleeves turned up and going down only to his elbows. The boy stood in the same manner as Ulquiorra with hands in the pockets of his pants, but the difference was that unlike the pale arrancar who kept his back straight – this guy was slouching. The next second the arrancar's gaze rose up to the unknown boy's face. His eyebrows quickly went high and his eyes grew wide with surprise he had never felt before to this degree. The light-blue eyes, the green marking below the eyes, the vicious, maniacal grin, the light-blue spiked hair and finally… that voice. There was no doubt about it – before him stood Grimmjow Jaggerjack, his fellow ex-Espada.  
>Grimmjow proceeded to chuckle, his shoulders going up and down with every sound coming out of his half-closed mouth. The man even closed his eyes with delight, savoring the moment of the ex-Cuatro's shock so evident on his face. Ulquiorra's mind only then caught on to the fact that Grimmjow, like him, looked like a teenager.<p>

"He he he, dude – just look at ya! Dumbass, so surprised and shocked… ah… I guess it's to be expected." Grimmjow's grin turned into a pleased one. "Ya didn't think you'd meet me here, huh, Ulquiorra?"

"G… Grimm…-jow. How is this possible?" Ulquiorra even stuttered a bit out of pure shock.

Grimmjow only chuckled some more, pulling a hand out of the pocket of his pants and pointing it at his fellow arancar. "How? HOW? The same way you did idiot – I got a free ride on a bus. Or wait… are you talking about this school or this world?" He tilted his head in mock question while still keeping that grin on his face.

Ulquiorra, who had accepted the facts finally calmed down and reverted to his usual, albeit alarmed self. He kept a frown on his face now. "You know well what I mean – how did you get into this world?"

"Heh, well lemme tell you a story, Ulquiorra. There I was, f**king beaten by Kurosaki of all people, almost killed by that bastard Nnoitra… bleeding to death with no one around. I was goddamn abandoned on the battlefield. It coulda been faster if those f**king Exequias would just come and finish me off, but no – I died slowly, loosing blood and unable to move. That was definitely not cool." Grimmjow's grin turned into a scowl full of rage and anger. "… and then, after I died and everything went black, I was here. I didn't know how or why, but soon enough I got my answers and now – I'm here to have a little chat with an old friend of mine."

"So you're here to fight me?" Ulquiorra asked, finding too many loopholes in that story, or rather the fact that Grimmjow had left out quite a lot.

"Nah, I'm here to kill you." Grimmjow pulled out his other hand, taking a fighting stance, while grinning again.

Ulquiorra only frowned deeper. "Kill me? You never had the strength necessary to beat me, let alone kill me, Grimmjow. Where's the point in this?"

"The point? Well, shithead, there's no point – I just hate you, is all."

And Grimmjow jumped forwards, aiming a punch at Ulquiorra, who had caught it a second later with his own hand, now fully ready for battle. Grimmjow only scoffed and aimed another punch at him, only to be blocked again. And then Ulquiorra had to block or evade a while flurry of punches coming his way, flying so fast that a man of lesser ability would see multiple hands coming his way, while the pale arrancar was good enough to keep up with the blue-haired boy's attacks both with his eyes and body. But then Ulquiorra felt something slam into his stomach, making his slide back a bit – Grimmjow had executed a kick while punching his opponent.  
>Ulquiorra was about to say something but his enemy vanished, reappearing behind him with a sonido. Ulquiorra swung his hand back, blocking a punch from Grimmjow. It was then Ulquiorra had understood – unlike before these simple punches and kicks hurt and that meant that either his own Hierro was weaker somehow or Grimmjow had gotten stronger, which was a possibility. With an unexpected motion Grimmjow twisted his hand, taking a hold of Ulquiorra's wrist and stomped his foot into the ground, slamming his shoulder into the pale boy's side, making the opponent grunt with slight pain. Then without pause the blue-haired arrancar pulled on the arm he held with great force, pushing the opponent's body in the other direction and slightly upwards with his shoulder and in the end – threw his enemy over himself and into the ground, sending cracks through it as Ulquiorra's body made contact with it.<p>

To say that Ulquiorra was surprised was to say nothing – Grimmjow never pulled moves like this before. Before Ulquiorra could do anything Grimmjow attacked once again, slamming his foot into the opponent's face, burying his head deeper into the ground instead of squishing it – Ulquiorra's hierro was stil a thing to be reckoned with.

"Heheh – I'm back, shithead. And now I'm gonna murder ya!" the violent monster declared before crying out in pain the next second, jumping away and holding his now bleeding leg, just below the knee. "Gah! Bastard!"

Ulquiorra stood up, dusting himself off – no longer frowning. "You simply caught me off-guard Grimmjow. This won't happen again… and to think that such a short and pathetic victory could make you happy."

Grimmjow bared his teeth. "F**ker… ya know… I hated the way Kurosaki was looking at me, like he had won already, but you – you piss me off as much, if not more! You and your damn eyes!" he spit every word in hate. "You think you're in control? You think you can look down on me? You think you're so cool? That's retarded – don't underestimate me! You have no idea what I'm capable of!"

Paying no attention to the wound on his leg the blue-haired arrancar disappeared in a flash of sonido once again, this time appearing above Ulquiorra, delivering a hammer-kick onto his head. Ulquiorra lifted up a single hand and blocked the attack, catching the man's leg and throwing it away. When Grimmjow landed he wasted no time and jumped at Ulquiorra, ready to strike but instead of attacking he found a hand pierce his side, making him jerk backwards, pulling the hand out of the wound. Another curse escaped his lips as the man raised his hand.

"Die, damn you!" and a blood-red cero gathered itself in his hand. In response Ulquiorra pointed a finger at Grimmjow, gathering his own Cero.

"You know my Cero is stronger than yours. Stop while you still can." The stoic man uttered.

"Never… NEVER!"

And the two Cero's fired, meeting each other almost at point-blank range. An explosion forced both to fly away backwards, fire and smoke covering their possible damage. As both of them waited for the dust to clear out they were presented with a most peculiar sight – both fighters were seemingly unharmed. Ulquiorra only raised a brow in surprise, while Grimmjow grinned again.

"More powerful my ass! Hah – you've clearly become weaker, Ulquiorra." The man sneered. "These idiots around you, these friend of yours – they made ya soft and weak… they made you more human." The last word was spoken with pure disgust.

"They are not humans – they're monsters." Ulquiorra replied.

"You get the meaning, Professor Dumbass. The way you are now… you're weak."

"Is that so? This coming from a man who's bleeding quite a lot, while I have no injuries aside from scratches." Ulquiorra replied, somewhat smugly.

Instead of being surprised or pissed Grimmjow suddenly burst out laughing as hard as he did when he had regained his power and killed a certain Luppi. The blue-haired man wiped a tear from the corner of his eye when he was done.

"This? You call this a wound?" he smirked. "Or maybe… you didn't realize how shallow your stab was, huh?"

"What?" was all Ulquiorra could say before Grimmjow raised his hand, creating a blood-red ball that covered his hand – but instead of a Cero it had been a Bala. The next second it hit Ulquiorra straight in the stomach, sending the man sliding away a few feet.

"Idiot." answered a voice behind him as a leg slammed into Ulquiorra's side and sent him into the nearby tree, destroying it upon impact with the body of the green-eyed arrancar. In the meantime Grimmjow raised his arms to his chest level, gesturing in a way one might think he was defenseless. "You didn't really think I'd stay on the same level for long, didja? Think about it, Ulquiorra – Ichigo had a hard time defeating me even with all the crap with his mask and bankai. He woulda died if that annoying woman wouldn't start shouting something about him 'living'. He was able to overpower me through sheer force of will… no matter how f**ked up that sounds."

Ulquiorra had already stood up by the time Grimmjow was finished talking and took a battle stance. "I never thought you were the type to make these observations, Grimmjow."

"Huh? Oh – ya think cuz I'm decisive, strong and violent – I'm stupid? That's bullshit." The muscular arrancar sneered again.

Ulquiorra had to think carefully about this, but before he could he felt a sudden spike of youki not too far away. It was Moka's youki and it was rising drastically, which only meant one thing – her Rosario had been removed. The raven-haired monster noticed that Grimmjow glanced sideways for a second too.

"Well-well, your friend are having some fun too, huh? Guess we better wrap up this party… one way or the other."

"So it would seem." The bat demon answered, vanishing from sight the next instant.

Grimmjow just stood there, looking into the direction his opponent had escaped, no doubt to help his friends in their troubles. However weird, the arrancar did not make an attempt to pursue his enemy and instead turned away, putting his hands into his pockets and walking away. As he did a small trail of youki of the same color as smoke emitted from his wounds, closing them up in mere fifteen seconds. Grimmjow only frowned at this, cracking his neck as he headed towards the dorms.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Later that day Ulquiorra found out that Tsukune and Moka got into trouble with Ishigami-sensei, who turned out to be the cause of all the disappearances of the 8th girls. With her defeat everyone turned into stone were turned back and safe. Tsukune himself was in the infirmary, while the others were worried about him elsewhere. Moka's condition was a bit better and she was able to move around.  
>All in all – Ulquiorra wasn't scared for the human's condition, as he knew now that the boy could go through a lot of things and come out victorious. The only doubt nagging the arrancar's mind was 'what if there was neither Ulquiorra nor Moka there to help him?' but he pushed it far away for now.<p>

The next day he and the others had barged in during an important moment, as much as the arrancar's observant eyes could see. They all gave the boy their presents – cookies from Kurumu, a Warawara-kun doll from Yukari and a book of poetry that Ulquiorra hand-picked himself. Little did he know at the moment that the things he had considered poetic and beautiful would make some of Tsukune's evening quite depressive and filled with suicidal thoughts… but he didn't know that, yet.  
>The merry group all cheered, wishing the human boy a happy birthday and Ulquiorra, who stood a bit further from the rest of them allowed a small smile to land on his face.<p>

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx  
>xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx<p>

Ulquiorra was standing still, his impassive gaze fell down onto the crowd of students not too far away and the table before him on which lay all the copies of the latest issue of the newspaper their club had done. His emerald eyes shifted on the group of four other people beside him on this side of the table, all holding the newspapers and cheering, shouting that people should take the newspapers they just made.  
>Not a lot of things happened, aside from the incident with the Slug-monster that tried to blackmail Kurumu a week back. While everyone started doubting Kurumu Ulquiorra and Tsukune remained firm in their belief that something was wrong. It turned out to be right and the crazy fanboy monster was dealt. What was most surprising was the fact that Kurumu had managed to access abilities far beyond her reach in the spur of the moment, impressing everyone in the group, including Ulquiorra, who, naturally, kept quiet about it.<p>

During all this time Ulquiorra had seen Grimmjow in hallways, in the cafeteria or someplace else – but the man did not make any attempts to attack and kill the dark-haired arrancar and that was most disturbing. As far as Ulquiorra knew – Grimmjow was one to do things rashly, attacking, destroying and whatnot, so he was plenty surprised to find him not doing anything of the sort and keeping a low profile. It was very suspicious. And the man had to agree in his mind that Grimmjow had shown to be not the rage-fueled machine of destruction he had thought the man to be by providing a rather accurate analysis of Kurosaki's victory over himself – once again a thing not common to Grimmjow. However…  
>What did Ulquiorra really know about his fellow ex-Espada besides facing him in battle and watching him do battle? He had a hunch before that even though the Sexta was brutal; he did not lack a certain feral cunning that he had displayed once before. Perhaps there was simply more to him that had met the eye? And the most interesting fact was that Grimmjow also had become a monster, as he lacked the mask fragment and the hollow hole, which meant that he and Ulquiorra had a few things in common and for one – they were no longer tied to their death aspect like they used to be.<p>

It was all extremely puzzling, but worst of all – Ulquiorra had found out that Kurumu had been hanging out with him from time to time. This was disturbing, and more-so added to the fact that Grimmjow knew who Ulquiorra's friends were. He had mentioned them and the fact he had been watching them. The only relief was that Kurumu was unharmed and she spoke of Grimmjow being special, but not bad. She didn't know the half of it… however Ulquiorra used to be as bad as Grimmjow was, if not worse in some aspects.

The raven-haired boy turned his attention to the world outside him, noticing that many boys and girls were attracted to their newspaper stand due to the fact Moka, Kurumu and Ulquiorra were handing out the said newspapers. While the boys hungrily assaulted Moka and Kurumu, who were the academy's number 1 and number 2 beauties respectively, the girl part of the crowd were almost fainting as Ulquiorra gave them their share of the papers. Perhaps it was due to the fact that his fingers brushed against theirs from time to time as he proceeded to give out their newspaper? He did not know, but the "Ulquiorra Fan Club" was here and a few of the girls had worked up the nerve to "accidentally" grab his hand while taking the objects.  
>One of them did faint, fuming at the mouth. <em>'Quite… disturbing…'<em> was all Ulquiorra had thought of the event.

He also noticed that quite a few people were giving much attention to Yukari, who in the end got a bit scared and used Ulquiorra as a human shield, hiding behind him and hugging him all at once. It was no secret to the "Ulquiorra Fan Club" that Yukari was their rival of sorts, as she openly declared that she was going to make Ulquiorra fall madly in love with her and proceeded to go into her own perverted fantasy world, describing the things they would do while alone… until the said subject of her affection stopped her every time.  
><em>'One time she even suggested a… sandwich… with Moka and me…'<em> Ulquiorra could not help but shake the horrible thoughts off, cursing himself mentally that he had once again gone off into his own world.

The arrancar's head shot straight up when he felt a familiar presence nearby.  
>Grimmjow was standing right before the newspaper club, only a table between them. The light-blue eyes were looking straight into the emerald-green ones, and after a moment of intent staring the two broke off, Ulquiorra making a step aside and Grimmjow moving to stand in front of Kurumu.<p>

"Hello Grimmjow! Glad you could make it!" the succubus almost sang a happy tune, smiling at the arrancar.

"Yeah-yeah… I told ya I'd come, so here I am. Gimme that friggin newspaper." the boy, seemingly oblivious of the shock he had caused the crowd behind him and those of the newspaper club who had not met him before, snatched the piece of paper from Kurumu's hands, holding back a bit as only Ulquiorra noticed.

The Panther Youkai proceeded to skim through the contents of the newspaper, paying no attention to the crowd around him, until Kurumu dragged him a few feet away, to which he only grumbled a few curses and settled on that. To say Ulquiorra was surprised was to say nothing – as much as the man had tried to accustom himself to shocks and surprises – one thing just beat another, surprising him even more and more. The Grimmjow he knew would at least throw the girl away, telling her not to touch him, but this… was weird beyond words.  
>Just then Ginei came over, looking rather happy.<p>

"How's it goin' guys? Are you giving out lots of copies?" he asked, waving at them.

Moka was the first to react. "Oh, Gin-sempai!"

"Oh, looks like it's a pretty big hit this time, eh?" the man looked inside one of the half-empty boxes after glancing at Kurumu, Yukari and Ulquiorra handing out papers, while Moka and Tsukune joined him. "We're gonna need to charge for these." he joked, sounding almost serious.

Moka only showed her bright smile in response. "We've already passed out half of them – it really makes me happy." She giggled a bit, earning a kind half-smile from Gin.

"By the way…" Tsukune turned to Gin. "Why don't you help us out passing the paper?" Oh the naïve little boy.

"Yeah, right – don't'cha know boring work like that is the job for underlings?" Gin said, smiling at Tsukune with his own special smile and waving a hand at the boy. "As if I'd ever do that… heh."

"WHAT?" Tsukune could only shout at him in irritation. "You've got no interest in the club, Leader!"

Ulquiorra could only sigh, looking at the club president out of the corner of his eye. Yukari, who happened to overhear everything chimed in.

"That's cuz the only thing he's interested in is his **H** stuff!" she said, and added. "Just like a stray dog during the mating season."

And then a small argument broke out, making Ulquiorra think that both were perverts. It ended shortly with a large basin falling on the head of the werewolf, who had been alarmed or distracted by something to dodge in time. Then the pale arrancar saw it too – a group of people advancing through the crowd in a manner which was far from careful, shoving people out of their way. The group all wore black attires and had white armbands on one hand.

"What's going on?" asked Tsukune.

"Crap… it's the black suits." Gin told them. "It's the Youkai Academy guardians – the Academy Public Safety Comission."

An earrie silence ensued, broke only by the rufling of paper a few feet away. _'Grimmjow.'_ Thought Ulquiorra. The bat demon studied the faces before him, carefully remembering them and trying to understand what they came here for. The lot were not giving off a good vibe anyway.  
>A tall male with long blond hair and weird black eyebrows was the first to speak.<p>

"Salutations – I am Kuyou, the Head of the Public Safety Commission." the man introduced himself politely. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Moka seemed a bit scared as she spoke. "Public Safety… so you're the ones maintaining the peace of the Academy? What can we do for you?" she asked, but much to everyone's surprise Gin suddenly slipped in between her and Kuyou, who had picked up one of the newspapers.

"Hm, so you're the Newspaper Club." he glanced over the articles with a critical eyes. "Well – your work is quite good, if I do say so myself. However…" the man closed his eyes and opened them, giving the group a rather cold glare. "… who gave you the permission to hand out a newspaper with these contents? We don't recall having inspected this." And then the man raised his leg, slamming it down onto the table and breaking it in two, making the newspapers fly everywhere. "Do you understand that it can cause problems for us?" he continued in a much higher tone of voice. "… when a gang like you selfishly does whatever it wants and disturbs the peace and order of this academy!"

And then the man proceeded to explain his actions, while in truth Gin and Ulquiorra knew that his reasons were nothing more than excuses. Ginei had known from experience with the group of men in black, while Ulquiorra could easily read the Kuyou guy. He had experience with trash like this one, but before he could say anything Kurmu had tried to defend herself and the newspapers, saying that it was no big deal. The girl who stood adjacent Kuyou spit something at the girl, binding her arm with sticky white substance.

"I see the Newspaper Club is filled with lowlifes just like always." Said the girl with dark-purple hair, after which she remarked that they were trouble just like last year and proceeded to stomp on one of the newspapers, but then a new voice cut her off.

"Oi, Keito… you better step off that piece of paper if you don't want me to bash your skull in."

Everyone looked towards the source of the words, noticing one almost pissed off Grimmjow Jaggerjack, still holding a newspaper in his hands.

"Well-well, if it isn't our frequent customer, Grimmjow!" the girl – Keito – mused, smirking at him. But she stepped off the paper nonetheless.

"Damn right. And you f**king lot are keeping me from reading the damn newspaper. You don't want that – do you?" Grimmjow then put the newspaper away into his pocket and came up to the girl, grinning at her face almost point-blank.  
>It was then Kuyou spoke.<p>

"Grimmjow Jaggerjack – you would go so far as to actually threaten a member of the Public Safety Commision? How bold and foolish of you." The blonde gave the blue-haired arrancar a cold stare to which the latter only chuckled. "After the last time you were in detention I'd think you've learned your lesson."

"Heheh, old habits die hard, ya know? I'm a bad boy through and through. It's about time you lot learned this." Grimmjow put his hands in the pockets of his pants and nearly hissed at Keito. "Now scram, while I'm in a good mood."

"One more word out of you Grimmjow…" the head of the PSC warned ominously and turned towards the newspaper club. "And you – keep in mind that if you ever do anything without our permission again – we're not going to let you off so easily." Kuyou warned, turning around and leaving along with the rest of his crew.

Ulquiorra only watched them go, then turning to see how the others took the news. Their faces were full of sadness and a bit of fear… aside from Grimmjow who just spat at the ground in defiance and disgust. Ulquiorra spoke out.

"Grimmjow – how exactly do you know them?"

Grimmjow scoffed, showing an expression of mock and disgust at the same time. "I've ran into the bastards a few times. I'm a troublemaker – whaddaya want from me? You expect me to sit and take in everything comin' at me like you do? Pfft."

"Figures." Responded the pale arrancar.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

The Newspaper Club and Grimmjow, who decided to tag along, were sitting at the cafeteria's outside table – the one they always ate at nowadays. Ginei had explained what the PSC was in truth and how corrupted they were and how bad they were, controlling the school and breaking anyone who got in their way.  
>After a small meal and a discussion a new question arose, one Kurumu voiced.<p>

"So, Ulquiorra – you and Grimmjow know each other?" she asked curiously.

The two looked at each other and visibly frowned at the same time – Grimmjow in his overreacting manner and Ulquiorra ever-so-slightly.

"Indeed… you could say… we come from the same place, more or less." Ulquiorra explained without giving any details. Grimmjow only crossed his arms on his chest.

"You were something like neighbors?" Moka asked.

"Yes – something like that. We both lived in the desert… with our families." Ulquiorra half-lied, shooting a glance at his fellow arrancar who nodded in confirmation.

"There – we do know each other. Me and this dumbshit were comrades before."

Ulquiorra only lowered his brows, making everyone understand just what kind of camaraderie they had. Instantly the group at the table came to recognize the tense aura of barely hidden hostility that surrounded the two boys, who sat exactly opposite each other.

"Hey…" Kurumu was the one to change the flow of the conversation. "… if it comes to this – I'll just pass out the rest of the newspapers myself, or with Grimmjow – he's no coward, unlike Gin! We don't have to burn the papers like Sempai says!"

"Wait Krumu-chan – Gin-sempai probably has a good reason for this…" Moka protested weakly.

"No way. That guy's head is just overloaded with perverted thoughts!" answered Kurumu.

"Wait…. what does that have to do with anything?" Grimmjow arched his eyebrows in a funny way, perplexed.

"Come on Grimmjow – let's go!" Kurmu exclaimed, no longer wishing to talk about this, and grabbed the boy by the arm, dragging him away, while carrying a box of newspapers in her other hand. The others only watched as the two walked away, followed by a few loud and rude exclamations by Grimmjow, which in short meant something like 'Fire – I'll go, even though I don't want to.'  
>Ulquiorra wanted to follow the two, but then a certain small Witch decided it was a good idea to latch onto him, since she was a bit lost and wanted some comfort.<p>

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Grimmjow and Kurmu were walking beside the school building, the girl walking ahead with the box and the boy following her in his usual manner of walking. Finally he broke the unpleasant silence.

"So… why are we doin' thin again?" he asked, still scowling.

"… these newspapers…" Kurumu started, sounding distant and on the verge of tears. "…they're like a treasure to me. I made these with Tsukune and everyone else. It's the first thing I've ever made by working together with other people." she stopped and paused. "And to have it trampled for no good reason! I can't back down like this! I can never forgive those Public Safety guys!"

Grimmjow watched her back as she lowered her head and almost broke into a scream while she spoke the last words. It was not something the man could really understand, but he could respect a little determination and willpower to stand up to people that try to push you around.  
>He came closer, standing side by side with the girl and punched her in her shoulder, unbelievably lightly, with no force behind it.<p>

"Baaaka." was the only thing he said.

And the next moment a strand of white goo shot into the box and with a quick pull the box was launched into the hands of a girl standing on a branch made of the same goo-like substance. It was Keito – the girl from earlier.

"Heh, don't make me laugh. You really **are** stupid." the girl smirked in a way that could make quite a few serial killers feel ashamed. "It appears you guys have no interest in being good boys and girls and obeying us. Fools." The creepy girl pulled the box into her hands with the help of the said white substance that was unmistakably spider webbing. "As I thought – I should crush you once and for all right here and now!"

Then the girl lowered herself down on the ground and proceeded to explain how the previous members of the Newspaper Club were as much trouble as this year's members. Kurumu was shocked and surprised, but she was able to speak nonetheless.

"That doesn't mean you guys can do anything you like! Give that back!" she pointed at the box in Keito's hands.

"Yeah – listen to the girl. You don't want me to make you hand them over, right?" Grimmjow grinned menacingly. "I'm not part of the club, so I don't give a shit about kicking your creepy ass all the way to New Year."

This was the last straw for the creepy rapist-girl Keito (**AN:** Seriously – her glares/stares/smirks could put a killer-rapist to shame, or is it just me?) who threw the box containing the newspapers into the furnace behind her, making the box burn and turn to ash in a matter of 15 seconds.

"Watch your mouths! Who do you think you're talking to, you little brats?" the girl shouted in fiery rage and then quickly her rage turned to sadistic satisfaction. "Your newspaper burns rather nicely, doesn't it?"

Kurumu covered her mouth with her hands, while the corners of her eyes turned moist again – a weak "No" coming out of her mouth, only barely audible, so Grimmjow could barely hear it. He looked back, watching the succubus' horrified expression with an unreadable one on his own face.  
>It was because of this that he was caught off guard when the spider webbing hit him, wrapping around his torso and he found himself being thrown into the nearby grave. Naturally – it shattered upon impact. Kurmu on the other hand was 'glued' to a tree as the girl – Keito – revealed herself to be a spiderwoman monster.<p>

"Grimmjow!" the blue-haired girl screamed, hoping the boy was alright.

"No need to call for him – you better worry about yourself!" Keito was already upon her, unclear in her intentions for a mere moment before ripping away at the girl's uniform with a few of her spider legs while gluing the succubus' hands and legs to the tree. "I'm going to have some fun with you…"

To say Kurumu was scared was wrong – she was almost mortified. The spiderwoman's intentions were quite clear now and Kurumu wished to wake up from this nightmare at any minute, while unable to shift to her true form. However before the situation could escalate further a strange heavy aura hit the area where the two were, making both Keito and her soon-to-be victim to turn around to the source.  
>Both saw Grimmjow Jaggerjack, who was finished tearing away the webbing. He stood up, examining the location of his ally and enemy and without a single word leapt towards the spidergirl. She did not stand idle and in turn spit a strand of webbing at the man, who was currently in the air just above the ground and supposedly defenseless, while she finished assuming her true form. Much to her surprise, as soon as Grimmjow touched the ground with a single foot he vanished with a sonido, evading the webbing as a result. Kurumu could only gasp in surprise as she recognized the move Ulquiorra had used a few times, calling it "Sonido" once before when he fought Gin on the roof of the school. While she thought about that, Grimmjow had reappeared beside the enemy and delivered a powerful kick to her face, but before she could fly away the man grabbed one of her spider-legs and swung it like a club, slamming her into a tree, then the ground and then threw her towards the furnace.<br>Without giving Keito a moment of breather he was upon her, slamming both legs into her stomach… supposedly it was there. Spiders and their weird anatomy. His hand found her throat and closed itself around it.

"Now you've done it and pissed me off, bitch." Grimmjow hissed straight at her face and added, thinking the succubus could not hear. In fact he didn't think much at the time – just said what's on his mind. "Ya stomped on a newspaper, burned a whole box of it… but worst of all – ya tried to hurt Kurumu. And now – you're gonna learn not to get on my bad side."

… and with that Grimmjow picked the spiderwoman up and slammed her head into the half-opened door of the furnace, making her hair catch on fire, while he laughed like he did when his mood was most violent.

"How do ya like that, huh? HUH?" he then threw the spider monster away, watching as the girl flew above the trees until he heard her land somewhere in the forest. He only grinned at that. But then he remembered about Kurumu and jumped to her side, then proceeding to rip off the sticky white webbing.

"Umm, could you… turn around or something?" Kurumu asked, who was practically only in her bra and panties, seeing as her uniform was torn to shreds.

Grimmjow only looked at her with a expressionless, blunt face Ulquiorra mostly showed and before she could yell at him that he was practically staring at her while she was half-naked and it bothered her – she had to catch his jacket, which he had removed and threw in her arms. The girl hesitated only a second and then covered herself with his jacket.  
>As they walked in the direction of the academy dorm Kurumu looked at her new friend.<p>

"Why did you do it?" she asked, watching him scoff, but before he could say anything she put her hand to his mouth, preventing him to speak. "And don't tell me she simply pissed you off and it had nothing to do with me or the newspapers. That lie won't work." she offered him a warm smile.

Grimmjow scratched his nose with his index finger, so uncharacteristically. "Well… I didn't see that whole thing as fair. Besides…" he looked at her, their eyes meeting. After about 10 seconds of gazing into each other's eyes Grimmjow continued, abruptly breaking away. "… besides you're just a baka – is all. I don't gotta explain myself to ya!"

He looked away, missing her mysterious smile.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

The newspaper club gang was all together sitting in their clubroom, with an addition of one half-pissed panther demon. All the eyes were directed to Kurumu, who had asked everyone to gather around, seeing as she had an important announcement to make. Everyone were sitting in their seats, beside Kurumu Kurono, who was standing in front of everyone and Grimmjow, who was leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed.

"… and that's how it is. So – I realize I had made a mistake before, because I was too caught up in the situation and it was the first time someone was so kind to me. But now…" she sighed and smiled. "… I think I **really** chose my Destined One! It's Grimmjow!" she exclaed happily, shocking everyone present in the room at the time.

Grimmjow, surprisingly, was the first to react vocally. "Wait-what? What the hell does that mean?" he was just as lost as everyone else of Kurumu's friends.

The succubus herself placed her hands together before her and leaned in on Grimmjow. "Grimmjow is way cooler than Tsukune! And you're my destine one! It's destiny - are you happy?" she asked him, pushing his head in between her awesome breasts.

Within minutes the blue-haired arrancar was running down the hall, trying to escape Kurumu, who was running behind him without falling back.

"Wait! Won't you wait for me?" she yelled playfully while chasing him.

"Hell-no!" he yelled back.

Ulquiorra only sighed and shook his head, watching them through the window as they raced towards the dorms.

CHAPTER 4 END

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** And there's chapter 4.  
>Okay – if anyone has the feeling the thing between Kurumu and Grimmjow was rushed – tell me so! But before ya do, think about it for a second. Kurumu was fast enough to declare her love for Tsukune after a single encounter, and it's the same here, if you don't count a few omitted weeks or so of their normal interactions. Also – Grimmjow saved her from a horrible situation and showed some kindness in his own way, but she's a smart girl and can see that he's got a heart beneath that rough exterior of his – he always did. Now he's not a hollow, and the same concept of "heart" applies to him as well. Finally – he indeed is cooler than Tsukune and unlike him – a monster, not a human. They had a spark going on between them at one moment too… and there's the thing that Tsukune never acts towards Kurumu like he does towards Moka and the girl can see that, and then BAM – Grimmjow enters the scene. So yeah. I don't think it's rushed.<br>On that topic – I think Kurumu and Grimmjow are a very good couple. I just do. She's the most corageous, bold and strong-willed girl of the group. And as you can see this was only half (if not less) Ulquiorra POV, which was one of the few exceptions. I did say the story would be strictly Ulq's POV, but there are moments like these.

I'm bringing the **sexy** back, baby! *brick'd in the face*

On that note – I feel like I'm nearly crossing the line between **T** and **M** ratings. I dunno – just seems to me that way. I want YOUR opinion on it! Should this remain a T story or should I go on and include all the M stuff I wanna do so much! Seriously…. I have a hard time without adding excessive violence and half-adult themes. What do you guys think? *makes a serious face*  
>Besides – this will allow me to determine whether there will be lemons and detailed descriptions of ppl making out. This is very important too, so I need you guys to tell me what YOU want. Should I just mention these things and keep them innocent to a degree… or do I smack decency in the face and GET THIS PARTY STARTED! Wooooo! *Grimankin is quickly subdued and put in a straight-jacket while he laughs manically*<p> 


	5. Chapter 5 - What Happened

What Happened…

Hello readers, this is Grimankin, and no this is not an actual new chapter of the story, but more like an update on what happened and may happen in the future.

As you might have noticed I haven't updated the story in about 3-4 years? Jesus Christ has it really been that long?! I know my last attempt at a story was in 2013, but I honestly don't feel like that much time really passed. And here I am, writing this. Call me an asshole – because I deserved to be called such after promising a good story and then going to abandon it without as much as a word of explanation.

So here I am to explain to reasons behind what happened and tell you readers of a… let's call it a possibility for now.

The reason I stopped writing this is three-fold:

One – my Muse for the story was simply gone. As it turned out I am a very inspiration-dependent writer, and without inspiration and desire to write something, I simply cannot do it. If I try and force myself to write I can only manage a small amount and it takes forever to think of something good. I started this story because I had a bunch of great ideas and at the time had read an another crossover with Bleach that I came to like a lot – so yeah I was inspired by a fellow author.

But as time passed I slowly lost my Muse, and without it I could not write much more of Hollow to Vampire.

Two – my previously mentioned Muse is crazy as shit. By that I mean that it just bounces from story and story, giving me a never-ending flow of story ideas and inspiration that make me start writing a new story…. Only to leave after 1 or 2 goddamn chapters are done. It's like a tease that says: "Yeah, write this, it's gonna be awesome" and after I do it it's like: "Nah, boooring, let's do something new – it'll be awesome!" and I am left with no choice but to follow like a lost puppy that has no idea what's next.

I have a shit-ton of stories I had started and not finished: Highschool DxD, Code Geass, Evangelion, Claymore, Fairy Tail, Fate/Stay Night/Zero, Hellsing, Sekirei, Naruto, RWBY, Familiar of Zero, Hataraku Maou-sama, Highschool of the Dead, Persona, other Bleach stories and lots of crossovers and some stuff that had already been posted on my stories.

I had an idea to put all of that somewhere like story idea compilations, but only a few of those are crossovers, and I didn't… and don't want to clog up my page with dozens of unfinished stories as a tease for other readers, who would end up wanting more and I wouldn't be able to write that, letting them down in the process.

Three – most of the time spent of FF thereafter was me reading what other people had written. And boy did it take up my time like crazy. I do not regret having read that much, because it helped me grow as a reader, and hopefully as an author myself. 90% of the stories I had liked made it on my Favs list – some stories had potential, others were an engaging read, and some were masterpieces beyond my imagination.

When I started Hollow to Vampire I had been a pretty fresh member on FanFiction. So looking back on the story now makes me cringe in some places. I did try to get back into the groove the previous years, somewhere along summer and re-read this story, only to realize that I have become dissatisfied with it. I decided to look at it with a critical eye and be honest with myself.

Some scenes were made for the sake of showing off, like the one with the thugs going after Ulquiorra in chapter 1. I think it was established in R+V that at the time Saizou was a loner, but I had to make some underling for Ulq to thrash around for the sake of it, which looking back at it now, wasn't written poorly, but still served no actual purpose.

My greatest gripe with this story, however, was the fact that Ulquiorra was there just along for the ride. It was like he was the 5th wheel in a carriage, just there for some unknown reason. As much as I tried to focus on him – it just doesn't feel like it's **his** story. It's still a story about others, but with his input on it – not at all what I wanted to do, I later realized.

So… here are my reasons and explanation. And here I will say this! I may continue this story, but it will be an actual **rewrite** rather than just going where I left off. Even though I did write most of chapter 5, it's still not what I had initially wanted.

As I said – it's just a possibility! I will not go on to promise anything and then be a bigger asshole and let people down again, I'm being honest here. I will try my best, and it's easier because some scenes will be left intact – the ones that still hold up in my mind. If the rewrite happens, it's most certainly going to be a better story, with more things in it.

And thank you dear readers for your thoughts, input and reviews – both good and bad, lol. I have been reading all of them as they were posted(feeling like a piece of shit in the process). Every little bit helps, no matter what anyone says… thought I still appreciate constructive criticism above all. Anyway – I will try and sit down to rewrite the story right after I am finished with this update, but I make no definite promises. If all goes well I might have a chap or two by the end of the next week. I may only hope…

And with that – Grimankin Out. And thank you once again.


End file.
